The Lightning Thief - Annabeth's POV
by sirenbay
Summary: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief from Annabeth Chase's perspective. Everything in this story belongs to the wonderful Rick Riordan! No copyright intended :) Just so everyone knows, most of the work this is Rick's I just I'm using what he already wrote and making it from Annabeth's point of view. All the dialogue is the same!
1. Chapter 1 (I Play Pinochle With a Horse)

**Chapter 1 (I Play Pinochle with a Horse)**

"I'm sorry, Annabeth. You know I can't grant you a quest, you're too young." Chiron said, for what had to be the millionth time.

"But Chiron, something was stolen from-"

"Will be found. Don't torture yourself over it." Chiron stated in a voice that said the conversation was over.

We were sitting on the porch of the Big House at Camp Half-Blood, my home since I was seven. I didn't want to lose it, and with the way things were going lately, it was a possibility. A couple of days ago, something was stolen from Zeus in Olympus. No one knew who took it, where it was hidden or even why. But Zeus had demanded its return by the summer solstice, and I didn't even want to imagine what would happen if he didn't get it back.

Chiron had just refused my demand to go on a quest for the bolt. He was always refusing me, all I wanted to do was go on a quest, to prove myself. But, no, Chiron said I was too young, and that he heard some prophecy that I had to wait for someone, a new half-blood came to camp. I was sick of waiting. I sat on the porch, deep in thought, going over my conversation with Chiron, when there was a sudden commotion.

There were two boys, one bearing all the weight of the other, struggling to get to the big house. The boy with black hair was screaming for his mother, it was heartbreaking. By the time I was over being stunned, they had made it to the porch, and I realized with a start that one of the boys was Grover. Once the black-haired boy's feet hit the porch, he fell. Chiron was at his side before I could blink. I rushed over, trying to make sense about what had happened. I had never seen this boy before, he had to be a half-blood or else he wouldn't have been able to make it past the barrier, but he was one that I've never seen before. He was cute, with black hair and I caught a glimpse of his sea-green eyes before they shut.

Suddenly, it struck me. A new half-blood at camp. This could be him.

"He's the one. He must be."

"Silence, Annabeth. He's still conscious, bring him inside."

It took what felt like hours to get the boy inside, but between Chiron and I we finally managed. We had put him in a bed in the Big House.

"Take care of him for me, Annabeth. I need to consult the oracle." Chiron had told me.

I spent hours making sure that he was still breathing, spoon-feeding him ambrosia when his eyes would flutter open. I couldn't help the smirk when I had to scrape the drips of his chin with the spoon. His eyes opened again, trying to focus and once they were open for longer than they had been I asked, "What will happen at the summer solstice?"

He struggled for words, and croaked, "What?"

I glanced around the room and making sure there was no one around to hear our conversation.

"What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!"

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, "I don't..."

Somebody knocked on the door, and before I could think about what I was doing, I quickly filled his mouth with more ambrosia. After a couple of mouthfuls, he nodded back off, I let out a sigh. Frustrated with how our conversation went, I got up and opened the door. Argus the camp's security guard, was standing there. He left himself in and took my empty seat next to the bed. Looks like I was going to have some time to myself to think this all over, so I head back to my cabin, head swimming with thoughts about quests, ideas and who exactly the black-haired boy was.


	2. Chapter 2 (I Become Supreme Lord )

**Chapter 2 (I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom)**

After leaving the Big House, I headed to my cabin. I sat on my bed, brainstorming every possible angle of what was stolen, who could have taken it, how to get it back, and just who exactly this new camper was. Finally, when I couldn't take it anymore, I headed back to the Big House and ran into Chiron and Mr. D talking about the new kid. Apparently, he'd woken up and Chiron wanted to tell him everything. Annabeth remember when she first learned about Olympus and how all the gods and goddesses were real and how one of them was her mother. It was all overwhelming, but at the same time, it all made sense.

I was just thinking about my first day at Camp Half-Blood when a voice broke her revere. "Mr. Brunner!" a boy cried out. Annabeth looked, it was him, the new kid. He looked a lot better than he had when she'd been spoon-feeding him. Chiron turned to address him.

"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."

So his name was Percy. Not a very common name, but it did seem to fit him. Now that he was closer, I took the opportunity to really look at him. He was about my height, skinny with black-hair and startling sea-green eyes. He had a bemused expression on his face, like he wasn't sure what to make of all this. He was actually kind of cute- "Annabeth?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and walked forward.

"This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."

"Sure, Chiron."

There was a moment of silence, and Percy seemed to be studying me, so I made every effort to look aloof and avoid his gaze. Something in his hands caught my eye. It looked like a horn from a big bull. So what Chiron told me was true, he killed the Minotaur. I was impressed, it took a lot of guts to take on a Minotaur, maybe this kid was more than he seemed. But, I wasn't about to tell him that, so I said the first thing that came to mind.

"You drool when you sleep." And with that I sprinted away from the Big House towards cabin eleven. Oh gods, Annabeth, I chastised myself. Why would you say that?! Of all the things you could have said like, 'hey' or 'glad you're not dead' you had to say 'you drool when you sleep'?! She silently reprimanded herself.

After making sure that cabin eleven was able to make some room for Percy, I went to my cabin to grab my favorite architecture book. After seeing the look on Percy's face she was sure that it was going to take Chiron a little while to explain everything to him. After what seemed like hours, she caught sight of Chiron and Percy walking towards her. He still looked confused, I laughed to myself.

"Annabeth," Chiron said. " I have a masters archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Cabin eleven," Chiron told Percy as he gestured toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."

Percy looked around, trying to take in his surroundings. The more I looked at Percy, the more I thought confused was just the way he looked. Kind of like a cute baby seal.

"Well, then." Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."

With that Chiron galloped off towards archery, and all of cabin eleven's attention was solely on Percy. They seemed to be seizing him up to, trying to figure out if he was a brother, or just a visitor to their cabin. Percy was still frozen like a deer in headlights.

"Well?" I prompted. "Go on."

He started walking into the cabin, and tripped over one of the loose floorboards. Some of the campers snickered, but no one said anything. They were still too busy sizing him up.

"Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven." I announced to break the ice.

"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.

I could tell Percy had no clue what to say, so I answered for him. "Undetermined."

Everyone groaned. We all knew what that was like. Then, from the back of the cabin walked Luke. Luke, my best friend. He helped and protected me when I ran away from home. He was the closest thing I had to family. I couldn't help but get a little self-conscious around him.

"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have a spot on the floor, righter over there." Luke said with a smile.

Luke looked so handsome when he smiled. With his surfer good-looks and orange camp shirt.

"This is Luke," I said, unable to stop blushing. "He's your counselor for now."

"For now?" Percy asked.

"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."

Percy studied the piece of floor Luke had pointed out to him. It wasn't much, and poor Percy didn't bring anything with him, besides the clothes on his back and his Minotaur horn. He looked wary. The campers of cabin eleven looked even more wary, some were suspicious, others sullen, and some grinned mischievously as if they couldn't wait to try to pick Percy's pockets.

"How long will I be here?" Percy asked.

"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."

"How long will that take?"

All the campers in cabin eleven laughed, but why they found it funny I don't know. I thought it was kind of sad, and I wanted to get Percy out of there before he dug a hole he couldn't get out of.

"Come on," I told him. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

"I've already seen it."

"Come on."

Percy just didn't appreciate what I was trying to do for him. I grabbed his wrist and dragged him outside, the laughs of the campers following us.

"Jackson, you have to do better than that." Time for some tough love.

"What?"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes, he was really naive. "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

I don't know what made me say it, but I knew it was how I felt. After watching Percy all afternoon, how confused and overwhelmed he was. His chances of being the one that I was waiting for plummeted.

"What's your problem?" Percy asked angrily and I was a little taken aback. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy-"

"Don't talk like that!" I exclaimed. Now I was starting to get mad. I just thought Percy was innocent and naive, now I could add stupid and clueless to the list. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"To get killed?"

"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?" Man, I was really letting him get under my skin. But being outside of this camp was all I ever wanted, a chance to prove myself, and here was a new kid who'd already killed the Minotaur.

Percy shook his head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was _the _Minotaur, the same one in the stories..."

"Yes." So now he was going to state the obvious. I couldn't help but get snappy with him.

"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So..."

"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."

"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."

"They don't have souls, like you and me." I said, trying to regain some decorum. "You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they'll reform."

Percy paled. "You mean, if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword-"

"The Fur... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."

"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"

I softened up a little bit. "You talk in your sleep."

"You called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"

I looked nervously to the sky, waiting for the clouds to rip apart. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."

"Look, is there anything we _can_ say without it thundering?" Percy whined. "Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."

He pointed to the the first few cabins, and I paled. "You don't just chose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or... you parent."

I stared him down, waiting for the answer to come to him. Waiting for him to have that _aha! _moment.

"My mom is Sally Jackson," he said. "She works at the candy story in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."

"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."

"He's dead. I never knew him."

I sighed. This happened all the time, kids thinking that their other parent was dead, when really they were one of the Olympians.

"Your father's not dead, Percy."

"How can you say that? You know him?"

"No, of course not."

"Then how can you say-"

"Because I know _you_. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."

"You don't know anything about me."

"No?" I was starting to get annoyed with him again. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."

"How-"

"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."

I could see Percy swallow, embarrassment clouding his eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD-you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield relfexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."

"You sound like... you went through the same thing?"

"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."

"Ambrosia and nectar."

"The food and drink we were giving you to make you feel better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It wouldn't turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."

I could tell Percy was reeling. I just hit him with all I had, no use in holding anything back now. He had every right to know. Then, a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"

I looked over. Oh gods, it was Clarisse coming from the Ares cabin, with three of her gang looking murderous. I really didn't have the time for this, Clarisse ranked so low on my list of worries right now.

"Clarisse," I sighed. "Why don't you go polish you spear or something?"

"Sure Miss Princess," she said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

"_Erre es korakas!"_ I said, _go to the crows! _"You don't have a chance."

"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but I saw her eye twitch. She wasn't nearly as confident as she tired to be. "Who's this little runt?" Clarisse asked, her attention turning to Percy.

"Percy Jackson," I said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."

Percy blinked slowly. "Like... the war god?"

Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"

"No," Percy said. "It explains the bad smell."

Wow, Percy got over being confused and docile really quickly. Annabeth was impressed, most of the new campers were terrified of Clarisse.

Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy."

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse-" I tried to stop her.

"Stay out of it, wise girl."

I really had no choice. I couldn't win a fight against Clarisse and her crones. During capture the flag, absolutely, but with no weapons, Clarisse definitely had the advantage. Percy surprised me again by handing me the Minotaur horn, he seemed to be bracing himself for a fight. But Clarisse just grabbed him by the back of the head and started dragging him towards the bathroom.

Percy was putting up a good fight, punching and kicking, but it had no effect on Clarisse, she was about twice his side. She dragged him into the girl's bathroom, towards the toilets. I immediately recoiled at the foul smell.

Clarisse's friends were all laughing as Percy was struggling, but he couldn't do any damage.

"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said, pushing Percy toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he's was so stupid looking."

Her friends snickered. I just stood in the corner, watching through my fingers, knowing what came next. Clarisse bent Percy over on his knees and started to push his head toward the toilet bowl. He was trying desperately to keep his head up.

Then something happened. The pipes in the bathroom started to rumble and shudder. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arch over Percy's head and slamming into Clarisse and her friends, soaking me in the process. Percy was sprawled out on the tiles. Clarisse started screaming.

Water blasted from the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.

Clarisse was struggling, gasping, and her friends started going toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers started acting up too, and together all the fixtures sprayed Clarisse and her friends right out of the bathroom, spinning them around. As soon as they were out the door, the spraying shut off.

The entire bathroom was flooded, and I was soaked. But, unlike Clarisse I wasn't pushed out of the bathroom. I couldn't process what had just happened. My mind was reeling with possibilities. All I could do was just stare at Percy in shock.

He was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of water around him, and he didn't have a drop of water on him. He stood up on shaky legs.

I found my voice, "How did you..."

"I don't know."

We turned and walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave Percy a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."

Then Percy did something that surprised me even more than his bathroom water display. He stood up to Clarisse.

"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."

Clarisse's friends had to hold her back, and they began dragging her back toward cabin five. The other campers giving them a wide berth.

All I could do was just stare at Percy in disbelief and awe, sure I was a little angry about getting a toilet water shower, but I was impressed. Maybe, there was more to Percy than just a confused kid.

"What?" Percy demanded. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," I said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."


	3. Chapter 3 (My Dinner Goes Up In Smoke)

**Chapter 3 (My Dinner Goes Up In Smoke)**

I was still soaking wet after Percy became one with the plumbing. But, I wasn't about to disregard Chiron's orders to show Percy around the camp, even if I was mad. I took him to the metal shop, the arts-and-crafts room, and the climbing wall. After showing him around, I took him to the canoeing lake, where the trail would lead us back to the cabins.

"I've got training to do," I told him. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

Percy looked sad. "Annaveth, I'm sorry about the toilets."

"Whatever."

"It wasn't my fault."

I couldn't help but stare skeptically back at him, I knew it was Percy's fault. How it was possible, that was a different story, one I had my own theories about. I couldn't help myself when I told him, "You need to talk to the Oracle."

"Who?"

"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."

Percy didn't comment, he just stared at the waters of the lake. I noticed two naiads sitting at the lake's bottom, and when they caught sight of Percy they waved enthusiastically at him. He waved sheepishly back.

"Don't encourage them," I warned him. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

"Naiads," he said, overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."

I frowned at him, just when I was starting to think Percy was starting to get he. He had to say he wanted to go home, proving me wrong. I didn't like to be proven wrong. "Don't you get it, Percy? You _are _home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."

"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"

"I mean _not human. _Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."

"Half-human and half-what?" Percy asked.

"I think you know." I said, like I was stating the obvious, making in addition to being a half-blood, Percy _was_ mentally disturbed.

"God." he said finally. "Half-god."

I nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."

"That's... crazy."

"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?" I challenged.

"But those are just-" he looked like he was going to say something, and thought better or it. "But if all the kids here are half-gods-"

"Demigods," I said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."

"Then who's your dad?"

Oh, Percy was really just asking for it now. Nothing was more frustrating than new campers thinking that only the male gods could have kids. And my dad was someone I did not want to talk to Percy, or anyone else, about.

"My dad's a professor at West Point," I told him. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."

"He's human."

"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?" I exclaimed.

"Who's your mom, then?"

"Cabin six." I said smugly.

"Meaning?"

I straighten myself up, "Athena. goddess of wisdom and battle," I stated proudly.

"And my dad?" Percy questioned.

"Undetermined," I said. "like I told you before. Nobody knows."

"Except my mother. She knew."

I felt a pang of sympathy, despite myself. "Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always revel their identities."

"My dad would have. He loved her."

I gave him a look. I really didn't want to make this any harder on Percy than it had to be. So I said, "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure": your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."

"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

"The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always... Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."

Percy seemed to think this over. Not sure what to make of this bombardment of information.

"So I'm stuck here," he said finally. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"

"It depends," I said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble- about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"So monsters can't get in here?" Percy questioned.

I shook my head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"

"Practice fights. Practical jokes." I shrugged.

"Practical jokes?"

"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. Form the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusal, just a strawberry farm."

"So... you're a year-rounder?"

I nodded. I pulled out my Camp Half-Blood necklace to show Percy, I had five clay beads, which is five summers worth of camp. I also had put my father's college ring strung on the strap, just to remind me he used to care once.

"I've been here since I was seven," I said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."

"Why did you come so young?"

I fiddled with my father's ring. "None of your business."

"Oh." Percy said, and we stood in an awkward silence. Finally Percy had something to say, "So... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless..." I trailed off, not sure how much more I should say.

"Unless?"

I figured why not. "You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time..." Caught up in the memory of the last time someone had be granted a quest. Things didn't go well to say the least.

"Back in the sick room," Percy said, "when you were feeding me that stuff-"

"Ambrosia."

"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."

My attention snapped back to Percy, my whole body tensed. "So you _do _know something?"

"Well...no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"

My fists clenched, this wasn't a good direction for the conversation to go, but I couldn't help myself. If Percy knew something, I had to know. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so _normal."_

"You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year-rounders- Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others- we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"But... how did you get there?"

"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." I was sure he was from New York, and knew what I was talking about. "You _are _a New Yorker, right?"

"Oh, sure." he said, looking down.

"Right after we visited," I continued, "the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping... I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something." I finished lamely. I really wanted my own quest and to solve the problem, but I needed help, and I thought maybe Percy was the half-blood I was waiting for.

Percy just shook his head dejectedly.

"I've got to get a quest," I muttered, mainly to myself. "I'm _not _too young. If they would just tell me the problem..."

The sound of Percy's stomach growling brought my back from my musings.

"Go on," I told him, "I'll catch you later." Percy left me alone by the canoe lake with my thoughts. I know I could solve the problem with the gods if Chiron would just trust me with the information. Athena always had a plan.

After sitting on the pier for a while longer, I made my way to the mess hall. I found my usual seat at cabin six's table with my siblings. Conversations and arguments were in full swing, the topic of tonight's conversation seemed to be about the Trojan War. I sat quietly, listening to my siblings bicker why I replayed the day's events with Percy in my head. It was still possible he could be the one I was waiting for. Whoever his dad was, he was certainly powerful, how else could have Percy caused the toilets to explode on Clarisse and her gang of bullies.

Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

We all raised our glasses. "To the gods!"

The wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and the usual barbecue. I filled my plate with my favorites, taking my fair share of strawberries that we grew at camp. Their strawberries were the best, thanks to Demeter's kids. But I saved the biggest, ripest strawberries for Athena. I followed my cabin to the fire, scrapping the strawberries into the fire, "Please, mom. I need help here."

Dinner continued normally, the argument about the Trojan War getting extremely heated. It only was resolved as much as it would be when Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention. Mr. D got up with a sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities direction, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

A bunch of ugly cheering came from the Ares table, making me seethe in anger. We had to win this Friday.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congraulations. Also, I should tell you we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."

I smirked, Mr. D pretty much insisted on getting everyone's names wrong, it made him feel more superior. Chiron turned to mutter something.

"Er, Percy Jackson." Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everybody cheered. We headed down to the amphitheater, where the Apollo cabin lead a sing-a-long. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores. Everything settling into a normal rhythm, even Percy was off of my mind for a while. After the campfire, I headed back to my cabin with my siblings. I crawled into bed, anxious for a good night's sleep to help me sort out the problem and Percy. He was the last thing I thought about before I fell asleep.

_..._

_..._

_I just wanted to talk a second to say thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed! I just had this idea yesterday about how Annabeth would see things, and I had some time so I thought why not! I'm hoping to have enough time to post a chapter a day, it does take a while to type though since I have to match up the dialogue and make sure that Annabeth is acting the way she should._

_I'll be posting another chapter tomorrow night. I hope you like this one! Please review :)_

_-xox Kirstie_


	4. Chapter 4 (We Capture A Flag)

**Chapter 4 (We Capture A Flag)**

The next few days after Percy's arrival went on normally. Every morning I taught Percy Ancient Greek, and we talked about the gods and goddesses. Percy finally realized that I was right about his dyslexia, and that he could read Ancient Greek fairly well. The rest of the day, I went through with my normal routine teaching Greek to other newer campers, sword fighting, archery and climbing on the wall.

I couldn't help but watch Percy. I had my theories about who his father was, and I noticed all the other senior counselors were watching him intently too. He wasn't as strong as the Ares' cabin, good at archery like Apollo's cabin. He definitely didn't have Hephaestus's skills with metalwork or Mr. D's way with vine plants. He did excel at canoeing, which to me wasn't surprising, but to the other campers, it was a little disconcerting.

I know Luke was trying to keep his spirits up. Luke was good that way, making everyone feel like they belonged even if they didn't think so. But, Luke did hold a grudge against Hermes and the other Olympians and I hoped it didn't rub off on Percy.

The rest of the week went by in the normal Camp Half-Blood way and it was finally Friday afternoon. Athena's cabin spent the day planning for our rematch with Ares in capture the flag. After dinner there was a lot of excitement in the air. Finally, it was time for capture the flag.

Campers were yelling and cheered as Malcolm, Abbey and I ran into the pavilion carrying our silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, I caught sight of Clarisse and her gang run in with their banner, painted a gaudy red with a blood spear and a boar's head.

The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. We had to trade privileges to gain their support. We had to give Hermes our better activities slots and Apollo our shower times. But, hopefully it would be worth it. Ares had allied themselves with all of the other smaller cabins.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bounded or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.

I already had my dagger and Yankee's cap, so I waited for the rest of my siblings and teammates to grab their gear. I looked over to where Luke was helping Percy get armed. Percy had a huge NBA backboard sized shield and a blue-plummed helmet that was a couple sizes to big, but it made him look kinda cute.

Snapping out of it, I yelled, "Blue team, forward!"

Everyone cheered and shook their swords and followed me down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off towards the north.

I heard armor banging and hear a voice at my side, "Hey."

I kept on marching. "So what's the plan?" he asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"

My hand automatically drifted to my pocket, to wear I had my Yankees cap. "Just watch Clarisse's spear. You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol, whatever that means."

I sighed, "It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."

My plan was to put Percy by the creek, guarding the boundary. But, Percy wasn't really going to be guarding anything. He was bait. Clarisse could hold a mean grudge and Percy had really pissed her off at the bathrooms. This was her turn to get even, without getting in trouble for it.

The night was warm and sticky. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. I left Percy stationed next to the creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees. I left him standing there, and I couldn't help from smiling as I remembered the look on Percy's face when I left. His big blue feathered helmet, his huge shield and bronze sword.

Far away, the conch horn blew. I put on my cap and instantly turned visible. My favorite present from my mother. It really came in handy for the war games. I circled back and hung out by the creek.

I caught sight of Clarisse and her team. "Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.

My plan was working perfectly, but Percy looked like he was going to puke. I really had to stop myself from running to help him. _Athena always has a plan_, I reminded myself and stayed where I was.

Clarisse charged across the stream. Percy managed to sidestep the first red's swing, but they were a lot more skilled and vicious than Percy. They surrounded him, and Clarisse thrust at him with her spear. Percy was able to deflect the point with his shield, but I could hear the electrical charge. Percy fell back.

Another Ares kid slammed Percy in the chest with the butt of his sword and he hit the dirt. They were toying with him, like cats with a mouse.

"Give him a haircut," I Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."

Percy managed to get to his feet again. He raised his sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear and sparks flew. "Oh, wow. I'm scared of this guy. Really scared." Clarisse snickered.

"The flag is that way," Percy stammered, I really felt for him. But I wasn't about to interfere.

"Yeah," one of the Ares guy's said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."

"You do that without my help." I cringed, Percy really didn't know when to keep his mouth shut, but it was kind of endearing.

Two of them charged at Percy. He backed up towards to creek, trying to raise his shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck Percy right in the ribs. I knew that if he hadn't been wearing armor he'd be a goner. Then one of Clarisse's siblings slashed his sword across Percy's arm, leaving a good-size cut.

He was bleeding profusely, but my plan seemed to be working. They were pushing Percy right into the creek, I was going to jump to help him, thinking that maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to leave Percy for Clarisse's punching bag.

But, as Clarisse and her cabin mates went into the creek to get to Percy, but he was back on his feet. Then, even though I knew this was likely to happen, I was surprised by Percy's strength and skill. He swung the flat of his sword into the head of the closest Ares kid. Knocking his helmet clean off, and he crumpled into the creek. Two of Clarisse's siblings decided to attack together, charging at Percy. He slammed one in the face with his shied and used his sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. They both backed up quickly. One kid just stood there, too afraid to move, but Clarisse wasn't so easily detered. She kept on coming, the point of her spear cackling with energy. SHe thrust the point of the spear, but Percy caught it between the edge of his shied and his sword, and it snapped like a twig.

"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"

Percy took the opportunity to smack Clarisse between the eyes with his sword-butt, sending her stumbling backward out of the creek.

Suddenly there was yelling and elated screaming to my right and Luke was racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by two Hermes guys who were covering his retreat into red terrioty. A few Apollo kids were behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares kids got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.

"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."

I couldn't help but smile. It worked. But, of course it would. Athena always had a plan.

She and her cabin mates staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran into our territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleen. Everyone on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out of the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over. We'd won.

I walked over to Percy. "Not bad, hero."

He whipped around to face me, taking off my cap I said, "Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?"

I could tell that Percy wasn't happy with my plan. He was angry. "You set me up. You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."

I shrugged, smiling. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

"A plan to get me pulverized."

"I came as fast as I could." I lied. "I was about to jump in, but... you didn't need help."

I looked to where Percy was cut, but there was nothing there. I pointed, "How did you do that?"

"Sword cut," he said. "What do you think?"

"No. It _was _a sword cut. Look at it."

He finally looked, noticing that the blood was gone. Where the huge gash had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As we watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

"I- I don't get it." Percy stammered.

I was thinking, I was right all along. Oh gods, this was not good. Now I was almost positive I knew who Percy's father was, and now I was sure. So it wasn't Zeus after all... glancing down at his feet, I saw Clarisse's broken spear and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."

"What_"

"Just do it."

He stepped out of the creek and he suddenly look dogged. He almost fell over, but I steadied him before he could face plant onto the bank of the creek.

"Oh, Styx." I cursed, unable to help myself. It really was true. "This is _not _good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus..." I was muttering mainly to myself. After watching Percy fight off the Ares cabin, I could see that he was really Big Three material, and Zeus would have to be the most likely culprit. He just couldn't help himself.

I was snapped out of my musings when a howl ripped through the forest.

The camper's cheering died instanly. Chiron shouted "Stand ready! My bow!"

I drew my sword, preparing for the beast. There on the rocks right above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.

It was looking straight at Percy. I moved, yelling, "Percy, run!"

I moved to step in front of him, I don't know why, but I felt like I had to protect him, but the hound was too fast. It leapt over me- an enormous shadow with teeth- and it slammed into Percy. Its razor claws ripping through Percy's armor. There were arrows flying through the night, hitting their mark with a thwacking sound. From the hound's neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at Percy's feet.

Chiron trotted over to Percy and I, a bow in his hand, his face grim.

"_Di immortales!" _I said. Taking in Percy's bleeding chest and the dead hellhound at our feet. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... they're not supposed to..."

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."

Luke came over to us, the banner forgotten in his hand. Moment of glory gone.

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.

We all watched as the body of the hellhound melted into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.

"You're wounded," I said. Thinking quickly I added, "Quick, Percy, get in the water."

"I'm okay."

"No, you're not," I said. "Chiron, watch this."

Percy looked too tired to argue anymore. He stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around him. As soon as his feet touched the water, a hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming appeared about his hear. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"Percy," I said, pointing. "Um..."

It was already fading, but I could tell that he still say it.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is _really_ not good."

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

All the campers and I started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, and they really didn't look happy about it.

"My father?" Percy asked bewilderedly.

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Strombringer, Father of Horses, Hail, Perseus Jackson. Son of the Sea God."

...

...

_Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. You guys rock!_

_-xox Kirstie_


	5. Chapter 5 (I Am Offered A Quest)

**Chapter 5 (I Am Offered A Quest)**

I spent the night of capture the flag replaying everything that had happened. Percy was the son of Poseidon. I thought it would have been Zeus, but no... it had to be Poseidon. The one god that Athena didn't get along with. The next couple of days passed with me still teaching Percy Greek in the morning. But, I was really distracted. Constantly thinking about Percy, and the summer solstice, and getting a quest and Percy.

Every time Percy said something, it irked me. I knew none of this was Percy's fault, but I couldn't help it. I felt like Poseidon and the rest of the gods were just playing some kind of cruel cosmic joke. As much as I wanted to not like Percy, I felt bad for him. The other campers were ignoring him, and even Clarisse was being meaner than usual. She kept her distance but she would look venomously at Percy whenever he was in eyesight. I'm pretty sure she even taped a news article about Percy and his mom's disappearance on his cabin door.

After one particularly annoying Greek session with Percy, I found myself leaving, muttering to myself like a crazy person. "Quest... Poseidon...Dirty rotten...Got to make a plan..." I was slowly driving myself crazy with possibilities.

I was sitting outside my cabin one morning, when I saw Percy and Grover walking in the direction of the Big House. I overheard Grover talking about Mr. D and Chiron summoning him. I ran into the cabin, grabbed my Yankees cap, put it on and darted outside after them, keeping at a safe distance.

As we were walking, I looked out over the Long Island Sound. The sky looked like ink soup coming to a boil. A hazy curtain of rain was coming in our direction. I heard Percy ask Grover if he'd need an umbrella.

"No," Grover said. "It never rains here unless we want it to."

Percy pointed at the storm. "What the heck is that, then?"

He was looking at the sky uneasily, and I was too. It was really concerning. The gods were really getting angry if rain was threatening to come down on Camp Half-Blood.

Grover tried to ease Percy's mind. "It'll pass around us. Bad weather always does."

I wasn't so sure though, this storm was huge. The other campers seemed tense, but they were trying to go on with their days. On our walk to the Big House, everyone was going about their normal business, Apollo campers playing volleyball against the satyrs, Mr. D's twins were making the strawberry plants grow. They were acting normal, but I caught a few of them looking up at the sky with looks of concern.

Grover and Percy walked up to the front porch of the Big House, with me following behind. Mr. D. sat at the pinochle table in his tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt with his Diet Coke, just like always. Chiron sat across the table in his fake wheelchair. They were playing a game of pinochle against two invisible opponents, their cards hovering in the air.

"Well, well," Mr. D said without looking up. "Our little celebrity."

To his credit, Percy didn't say anything snarky bad. He just stood there patiently and waited for whatever it was that Mr. D wanted to say.

"Come closer," Mr. D said. "And don't expect me to kowtow you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father."

A net of lightning flashed across the clouds, startling me. Thunder shook the windows of the house.

"Blah, blah, blah," Dionysus said.

Chiron was feigning interest in his pinochle cards. Grover cowered by the railing, his hooves clopping back and forth.

"If I had my way," Dionysus said, "I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel like would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm" I almost snorted, Mr. D could care less about us, he was still bitter about being stuck with us.

"Spontaneous combustion _is_ a form of harm, Mr. D," Chiron put in.

"Nonsense," Dionysius said. "Boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin, instead, sending you back to your father."

"Mr. D-" Chiron warned.

"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented. "There's one more option. But, it's deadly foolishness." Dionysus rose, and the invisible players' cards dropped to the table. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do."

My heart skipped a beat, if Chiron was about to do what I thought he was, I didn't want to miss this. I needed to be here, I took a seat on the grass and leaned up against the Big House's porch.

"Sit, Percy, please. And Grover." I heard Chiron say, as I made myself more comfortable.

"Tell me, Percy," he said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

"It scared me. If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead." Percy said.

"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."

"Done... with what?"

"You quest, of course." I had to cover my mouth to sniffle my gasp. Percy was going to be issued a quest! Something I've waited my whole life for. I was going to do whatever I had to do to get him to take me with him. Behind me, Chiron continued. "Will you accept it?"

"Um, sir. You haven't told me what it is yet." Percy managed to say.

"Well, that's the hard part, the details."

Thunder rumbled across the valley. The storm clouds had now reached the edge of the beach. As far as I could see, the sky and the sea were boiling together. I was very concerned.

"Poseidon and Zeus," Percy stated. "They're fighting over something valuable...something that was stolen aren't they?"

There was a brief silence, and then Chiron said, "HOw did you know that?"

"The weather since Christmas has been weird, like the sea and the sky are fighting. Then I talked to Annabeth, and she'd overheard something about a theft. And... I've also been having these dreams." Wow, thanks, Percy for throwing me under the bus. But what he said about his dreams caught my attention.

"I knew it." Grover said.

"Hush, satyr."

"But it is his quest! It must be!" Grover exclaimed, his voice could barely contain his excitement.

"Only the Oracle can determine. Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. Your father and Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. They are fighting over something valuable that was stolen." I waited, waiting to see what Chiron told Percy had been stolen. The object that had been taken was crucial to how I was going to plan to get it back.

"To be precise: a lightning bolt."

I heard Percy give a short, nervous laugh. "A _what?_"

The master bolt. That's why Zeus was so angry and demanding it's return. The master bolt was Zeus' symbol of power, without it he'd be in serious trouble. I lost track of the conversation for a few minutes, lost in my own thoughts. But I heard Chiron say, "Stolen."

"By who?" Percy questioned.

"By _whom._ By you."

My mouth fell open. _Percy_ stole the master bolt? He was better at playing dumb than I gave him credit for. I actually believed him, but... it just didn't make sense. Percy couldn't be that deceitful, from what I knew about him, he was heartbroken over losing his mother and he just found out who his father was. No, it couldn't be Percy, and Chiron voiced my thoughts.

"At least, that's what Zeus thinks. During the winter solstice, at the last council of the gods, Zeus and Poseidon had an arugement. The usual nonsense: 'Mother Rhea always liked you best.' 'Air disasters are more spectacular than sea disasters,' et cetera. Afterward, Zeus realized his master bolt was missing, taken from the throne room under his very nose. He immediately blamed Poseidon. Now, a god cannot usurp another god's symbol of power directly- that is forbidden by the most ancient of divine laws." Chiron explained. "But Zeus believes your father convinced a human hero to take it."

"But I didn't-"

"Patience and listen, child." Chiron said. He then went on to explain why it would occur to Zeus to blame his brother Poseidon. After all Poseidon's domain is where the forges were located, the forges were all the weapons were made, including his bolt. Zeus believed that Poseidon was having the Cyclopes built an arsenal of copies in order to take Zeus' throne.

Percy just kept on denying everything, sputtering out his outrage at being blamed for something he clearly didn't do. I kept thinking about what I had heard and coming up with my own theories about who could have stolen the bolt. Who could want a war? I just couldn't come up with a logical answer, and it bothered me. I heard Chiron mention the word 'quest' again and I went back to paying attention to their conversation.

"You must seek the counsel of the Oracle." Chiron stated.

"Why can't you tell me where the bolt is beforehand?" Percy questioned.

"Because if I did, you would be too afraid to accept the challenge.

"Good reason." I swore I could hear Percy swallow.

"All right," he said. "It's better than being turned into a dolphin."

"Then, it's time you consulted the Oracle. Go upstairs, Percy Jackson, to the attic. When you come back down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more."

I hear Percy get up and go into the Big House. I shifted my weight and put my head in my hands, my head was still reeling after hearing the conversation. There was so much at stake, and for Chiron to essentially put the balance of the world on Percy's shoulders was kind of unfair. Hopefully, I will be able to help him, if he would allow her to go on his quest. He had to, he just had to. I was thinking of every possible scenario of me asking Percy to accompany him on the quest, when I hear footsteps on the porch. I turned around. Percy look exhausted as he slumped into a chair at the pinochle table.

"She said I would retrieve what was stolen."

"That' great!" Grover exclaimed.

"What did the Oracle say _exactly?_ This is important." Chiron pressed Percy for information.

"She... she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned."

"I knew it." Grover said.

But the look on Chiron's face was less than satisfied. "Anything else?"

"No," he said. "That's about it."

"Very well, Percy. But know this: the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."

"Okay." Percy said anxiously. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"

"Ah, think, Percy," Chiron said. "If Zeus and Poseidon weaken each other in a war, who stands to gain?"

"Somebody who wants to take over?" Percy guessed.

"Yes, quite. Someone who harbors a grudge, who has been unhappy with his lot since the world was divided eons ago, whose kingdom would grow powerful with the deaths of millions. Someone who hates his brothers for forcing him into an oath of them have now broken."

Percy said what I thought. "Hades."

My mind was reeling. So Hades had taken the bolt, in an effort to put one brother against the other. To essentially start a war with nature itself. It was a death wish. Percy was going to have to travel to the Underworld to complete his quest, he had a dangerous road ahead of him. But, I was still dead set on going with him.

I stood up, brushing off my jeans. Grover, Percy, and Chiron were now discussing how Percy and his fellow questers were going to travel and who would be the third companion and his journey.

"That's right. Two companions may accompany you. Grover is one. The other has already volunteered, if you will accept her help."

"Gee." Percy said sarcastically. "Who else would be stupid enough to volunteer for a quest like this."

I was standing behind Chiron, it was now or never. I shimmered into existence as I took off my cap, putting it into my back pocket.

"I've been waiting a long time for a quest, seaweed brain," I said. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if you're going to save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up."

"If you do say so yourself," Percy said. "I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?"

I bristled at the nickname. "Do you want my help or not?"

He seemed to think about it for a minute, and he seemed to decide that he needed my help. " A trio. That'll work."

"Excellent," Chiron said. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own."

Lightning flashed. Rain poured down on the meadows that were never supposed to have violent weather. I swallowed my fear, bracing myself for what was coming.

"No time to waste," Chiron said. "I think you should all get packing."

...

...

_Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! It means a lot to me :)_

_-xox Kirstie_


	6. Chapter 6 (I Blow Up a Perfectly )

**Chapter 6(I Ruin A Perfectly Good Bus)**

It didn't take me long to pack, grabbed all the essentials from my cabin. I grabbed my Yankees cap, a book on famous classical architecture, and my bronze knife. After packing I headed back to the Big House to wait for Grover and Percy. Chiron gave Percy and I a canteen of nectar each and a Ziploc full of ambrosia squares, only to be used in emergencies, if we were seriously hurt. It was god food Chiron reminded us. It would cure us of almost any injury, but it was lethal to mortals. Too much of it would make a half-blood very, very feverish. An overdose would burn us up, literally.

We waved good-bye to the other campers, took one last look at the strawberry fields, the ocean, and the Big House, then hiked up Half-Blood Hill to the tall pine tree that used to be Thalia, daughter of Zeus.

Chiron was waiting for us in his wheelchair, and standing next to him was Argus.

"This is Argus," he told Percy, "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep an eye on things."

I heard footsteps behind us. Luke came running up the hill with a pair of basketball shoes in his hands, and my breath caught. I was so excited over finally getting a quest, I'd forgotten to say goodbye to Luke. I blushed.

"Hey!" he panted. "Glad I caught you. Just wanted to say good luck. And I thought ... um, maybe you could use these."

Luke handed Percy the sneakers he was carrying, which looked normal to me, but I knew they had to be magic.

"_Maia!" _Luke said.

White bird's wings sprouted out of the heels, startling Percy so much that he dropped them. The shoes flapped around on the ground until the wings folded up and disappeared.

"Awesome!" Grover said.

Luke smiled, my face felt hot again. "Those served me well when I was on my quest. Gift from Dad. Of course, I don't use them much these days..." My heart dropped when Luke's expression turned sad and wistful.

Percy was at a lost of words. "Hey, man. Thanks."

"Listen, Percy..." Luke looked uncomfortable. "A lot of hopes are riding on you. So just just... kill some monsters for me, okay?"

They shook hands, Luke patted Grover on the head, and he locked me in a good-bye hug. I felt like I was about to pass out from the show of emotion from Luke.

After Luke was gone, Percy said. "You're hyperventilating."

I bristled. "Am not."

"You let him capture the flag instead of you, didn't you?"

Now he'd done it, just when we were starting to get along Percy had to go say something to ruin it. "Oh... why do I want to go anywhere with you, Percy?"

I stomped down the other side of the hill to the SUV that waited for us. Argus followed me, jingling his car keys. I sat down in the car and waiting. Thinking about how annoying Percy was, and how sincere and nice Luke was.

Argus drove us out of the countryside and into western Long Island. It felt kind of weird to be in the SUV, on the highway with Percy and Grover. The real world always seemed like a fantasy to me, ever since I made Camp Half-Blood my home. I had only left for brief periods of time, and never on a quest. I was starting to get a little nervous.

"So far so good," Percy said. "Ten miles and not a single monster."

I shot him an irritated look, he wasn't helping my nerves. "It's bad luck to talk that way, seaweed brain."

"Remind me again- why do you hate me so much?"

I had a lot of feelings about Percy, some I wasn't even sure about yet, but I know I didn't hate him. I replied, lamely,"I don't hate you."

"Could've fooled me."

I fiddled with my Yankees cap before answering, I guess it was time for another lesson in Greek history. "Look... we're just not supposed to get along, okay? Our parents are rivals."

"Why?"

I sighed. "How many reasons do you want? One time my mom caught Poseidon with his girlfriend in Athena's temp, which is _hugely_ disrespectful. ANother time, Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron god for the city of Athens. Your dad created some stupid saltwater spring for his gift. My mom created the olive tree. The people saw that her gift was better, so they named the city after her."

"They must have really liked olives."

"Oh, forget it." I huffed. Maybe I did hate Percy.

"Now if she'd invented pizza- _that _I could understand."

"I said forget it!" I kept my eyes outside on the passing scenery, ignoring Percy.

Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan it was sunset and starting to rain. Argus dropped us off at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side. Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.

I could tell Percy was thinking about something, and I gave him and Grover a bit of room. I heard them talking to each other, I overheard snippets of their conversation "Gabe...smelly... your mom...protect you.. loved you." I tuned out their conversation and closed my eyes.

The rain kept coming down. We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. I was great at Hacky Sack, I could bounce the apple off my knee, elbow, shoulder, pretty much where ever. Percy wasn't too bad either.

The game abruptly ended when Percy tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one big bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared- core, stem, and all.

Grover blushed. He tried apologizing, but Percy and I were too busy cracking up.

Finally, the bus came. As we stood in line to board. Grover started looking around, sniffing the air he smelled his something off. I was starting to get worried. Satyrs could smell monsters like monsters could smell half-bloods.

"What is it?" Percy said.

"I don't know," he said tensely. "Maybe it's nothing."

Percy looked at me, and we both knew it wasn't nothing.

I was relieved when we finally got on board and found seats together in the back of the bus. We stowed our backpacks. But, for some reason I felt like I should keep my Yankees cap with me. I kept slapping it nervously against my thigh. I caught sight of the last passengers getting on board, the first was an old lady in a crumpled dress. She was followed by two more old ladies dressed in the same crumpled fashion with handbags.

"Percy." I clamped my hand on Percy's knee.

They sat in the front row, right behind the driver. The two on the aisle crossed their legs over the walkway, making an X. It was causal enough, but it sent a clear message: nobody leaves.

The bus pulled out of the station, and we were headed through the slick streets of Manhattan. Percy finally spoke up, "She didn't stay dead for very long." I could tell he was trying to keep his voice steady. "I thought you said they could be dispelled for a lifetime."

"I said if you're _lucky._ You're obviously not."

"All three of them," Grover whimpered. "_Di immortales!"_

_"_It's okay." I said, thinking of the best way to handle the situation and keep a level head. "The Furies. The three worst monsters from the Underworld. No problem. No problem. We'll just slip out the windows."

"They don't open," Grover moaned.

"A back exit?" I suggested.

There wasn't one. Even if there had been, it wouldn't have helped us. By that time, we were already on Ninth Avenue, heading for the Lincolnn Tunnel. We were stuck.

"They won't attack us with witnesses around," Percy said. "Will they?"

"Mortals don't have good eyes," I reminded him. "Their brains can only process what they see through the Mist."

"They'll see three old ladies killing us, won't they?"

I had to think about that for a second. It was hard to predict what the mortals would see through the Mist. "Hard to say. But we can't count on mortals for help. Maybe an emergency exit on the roof...?" I trailed off as we hit the Lincoln Tunnel, and the bus was plunged into darkness except for the running lights down the aisle. It was eerily quiet without the sound of the rain on the roof.

The Fury that Percy called Mrs. Dodds got up. In a flat voice, as if she'd rehearsed it, she announced to the whole bus: "I need to use the rest room."

"So do I," said the second sister.

"So do I." said the third sister.

They all started coming down the aisle.

Finally, like a flash of lightning going off, I had an idea. "I've got it," I said. "Percy, take my hat."

"What?"

"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."

"But you guys-"

"There's an outside chance they might not notice us." I told him, trying to convince myself too. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."

"I can't just leave you." he said.

"Don't worry about us," Grover told him. "Go!"

Percy's hands trembled as he took my hat, a pained look crossed his face, like he really didn't want to leave Grover and me behind. He put the hat on and vanished.

I had to hope that Percy could sneak past them without them realizing he was no longer on the bus. Everything was going fine until the Kindly Ones got to us, and of course that was when all Hades broke loose.

The old ladies were not old ladies anymore. Their faces were still the same, but their bodies had shriveled into leathry brown hag bodies with bat's wings and hads and feet like gargoyle claws. Their handbags had turned into fiery whips. They surrounded me and Grover, lashingout with their fire whips, hissing: "Where is it? Where?"

The other people on the bus were screaming, cowering in their seats. They saw _something__, _all right. But I knew better than to think they were going to be any help.

"He's not here!" I yelled. "He's gone!"

The Furies raised their whips. I drew my bronze knife. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Grover grab a tin can from his snack bag and prepared to throw it.

All of the sudden as soon as I thought it was over, the bus jerked to the left. Everybody howled as they were thrown to the hight, even the Furies weren't spared and they slammed against the window.

"Hey!" I heard the driver yelled. "Hey-woah!"

It took me a minute to realize what was going on. Percy must have made it to the front of the bus, and instead of saving himself he stayed to help. I was mad and extremely relieved at the same time.

The bus was slammed against the side of the tunnel, grinding metal, throwing sparks a mile behind us. We careened out of the LInchln Tunnel and back into the rainstorm, people and monsters tossed around the bus, cars plowed aside like bowling pins.

It felt like Percy was losing his battle with the driver when we pulled off an exit. We shot off the highway, through half a dozen traffic lights, and ended up barreling down one of those New Jersey rural roads were you can't believe there's so much nothing right across the river from New York. There were woods to our left, the Hudson River to our right, and the bus seemed to be veering toward the river.

There was a slam, and the bus wailed and spun in a full circle on the wet asphalt, crashing into the trees. The emergency lights came on. The door to the bus few open, the bus driver was the first one out, passengers yelling as they stampeded after him.

The Furies regained their balance now that the bus was stopped and I braced myself. They lashed their whips while I waved my knife and yelled at them in Greek to back off, Grover was trying to help me by throwing tin cans.

"Hey!" I heard a shout from the front of the bus, and the Furies turned toward the person who yelled. It was Percy.

Mrs. Dodds forgot all about Grover and me and stalked up the aisle. Every time she flicked her whip, red flames danced along the barbed leather.

Her sisters hopped onto the top of the seats on either side of her and crawled toward Percy like huge nasty lizards.

"Perseus Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "You have offended the gods. You shall die."

"I like you better as a math teacher," Percy told her.

She growled. Grover and I took that as our window of opportunity, we moved up behind the Furies while their attention was on Percy, looking for an opening.

I saw Percy take a ballpoint pen out of his pocket and uncap it. The pen suddenly grew into a longer doubled-edged blade. It had a leather-wrapped grip and a flat hilt that looked like it was riveted with gold studs.

The Furies hesitated.

"Submit now," said Mrs. Dodds. "And you will not suffer eternal torment."

"Nice try," Percy told her. But he didn't see what was happening. Mrs. Dodds was getting ready to lash out with her whip and her sisters were going to strike.

"Percy, look out!" I cried. I was too late. Mrs. Dodds lashed her whip around Percy's sword hand while the Furies on either side of her lunged. Somehow Percy managed not to drop his sword. He struck the Fury on his left with its hilt, sending her toppling backward into a seat. He turned, slicing into the Fury on the right. As soon as the blade touched her neck, she screamed and exploded into dust.

During all the commotion I managed to get Mrs. Dodds in a wrestler's hold, yanking her backward while Grover ripped the whip out of her hands.

"Ow!" he helled. "Ow! Hot! Hot!"

While Grover and I were struggling with Mrs. Dodds, I caught sight of Percy slicing into the second Fury, trying her to dust. Mrs. Dodds was clawing and hissing, but I did my best to hold on. If Percy could take on two Furies by himself, I could hold on to this one just a little bit longer, while Grover was trying to get her tied down.

Finally, Grover managed to tie her legs with her own whip. Together, we shoved her backward.

"Zeus will destroy you!" she promised. "Hades will have your soul!"

Percy yelled back defiantly, "_Braccas meas vescimini!"_

Thunder shook the bus. The hair rose on the back of my neck, realizing that we were about to be stuck I yelled. "Get out! Now!

Together we rushed outside and found the other passengers wandering around in a daze, arguing with the driver, or running around in circles yelled in, "We're going to die!" A Hawaiian-shirted tourist with a camera snapped a picture of Percy before we could move out of the way.

"Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our-"

BOOOOOOM!

The windows of the bus exploded as the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded a huge crater in the roof, but an angry wait from inside told me that Mrs. Dodds was not yet dead.

"Run!" I said. "She's calling for reinforcements! We have to get out of here!"

We plunged into the woods as the rain poured down, the bus in flames behind us, and nothing but darkness ahead.

...

...

_Thank you all so much for reading! I really appreciate it. And a special thank you to those of you who reviewed, you know who you are! :3_

_-xox Kirstie_


	7. Chapter 7 (We Visit the Garden Gnome)

**Chapter 7 (We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium)**

In a way, it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong. Things just weren't going our way. First we have to cross blades with the Furies and then the bus we were lighting gets blown up. And it was raining.

So there we were, Grover and Percy and I, walking through the woods along the New Jersey riverbank, the glow of New York City making the night sky yellow behind us, and the smell of the Hudson reeking our noses. Grover was shivering and braying, his big goat eyes turned slit-pupiled and full of terror. "Three Kindly Ones. All three at once."

I was still in shock, I've read all about the Kindly Ones, but having them in your face, lashing out with their fiery whips was a whole different animal. But, I couldn't let Percy and Grover know how shaken up I was, I kept pulling them along: "Come on! The farther away we get the better."

"All our money was back there," Percy felt the need to remind me. "Our food and clothes. Everything."

Percy was annoying me, yet again. I really think he was purposely trying to be annoying. No way one person could be that naive. I wasn't going to let him get the best of me.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't decided to jump into the fight-"

"What did you want me to do? Let you get killed?"

"You didn't need to protect me, Percy. I would've been fine." I really didn't believe that, Percy really saved us back there, but I wasn't about to let him know that.

"Sliced like sandwich bread, but fine." Grover felt the need to chime in.

"Shut up, goat boy." I told him.

Grover brayed mournfully. "Tin cans... a perfectly good bag of tin cans."

We got quiet after that, letting the events of the day sink in. We sloshed across mushy ground, through nasty twisted trees that smelled like sour laundry. Percy was still trailing behind me, and I decided to fall in step next to him. "Look, I..." My voice faltered, this was going to be more difficult than I thought. "I appreciate your coming back for us, okay? That was really brave."

"We're a team, right?"

I didn't answer right away, Percy wasn't as dumb as I thought. He always seemed to know what to say to make things better. I stayed silent for a few minutes, trying to think about what to say. I decided to be honest. "It's just that if you died... aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over. This may be my only chance to see the real world." Well mostly honest, I couldn't let him know I cared more about him dying than the quest.

The thunderstorm had finally let up. The city glow faded behind us, leaving us in almost total darkness. I couldn't see anything.

Percy broke the silence, "You haven't left Camp Half-Blood since you were seven?"

"No... only short field trips. My dad-"

"The history professor," Percy chimed in.

"Yeah. It didn't work out for me living at home. I mean, Camp Half-Blood _is _my home." I was rushing my words, I didn't plan on telling Percy anything about my personal life, but now that I started I didn't want to stop. "At camp you train and train. And that's all cool and everything. but the real world is where the monsters are. That's where you learn whether you're any good or not." I cringed as I heard the doubt in my voice. For some reason, Percy was easy to talk to, and it did make me feel better to get it all out.

"You're pretty good with that knife," Percy said.

"You think so." I tried not to blush.

"Anybody who can piggyback-ride a Fury is okay by me." I couldn't help but smile.

"You know," I said, "maybe I should tell you... something funny back on the bus." I was about to say that the Furies seemed to be holding back, like they didn't really want us dead, but I didn't get to say anything because I was interrupted by a shrill _toot-toot-toot, _like the sound of an owl being tortured.

"Hey, my reed pipes still work!" Grover cried. "If I could just remember a 'find path' song, we could get our of these woods!"

He puffed out a few notes, but the tune sounded suspiciously like Hilary Duff. Percy proved that Grover didn't know a find path song when he slammed head first into a tree. Percy spent the next mile tripping and cursing. I could tell he was miserable, but it was kind of entertaining. Finally, I saw a neon sign up ahead. I could smell food: Fried, greasy, excellent food. Camp Half-Blood is all about keeping us healthy, my stomach growled for some fast food.

We kept walking until we saw a deserted two-lane road through the trees. On the other side was a closed-down gas station, a tattered billboard for a 1900s movie, and one open business, which was the source of the neon light and the good smell.

It wasn't a fast food restaurant. It was one of those weird roadside curio shops that sell lawn flamingoes and wooden Indians and cement grizzly bears and other novelties like that. The main building was a long, low warehouse, surrounded by acres of statuary. The neon sign above the gate was hard for me to read. I tried, but the red neon was written in cursive. It was just a jumble of letters, I was getting frusterated.

Percy turned and asked me, "What the heck does that say?"

Frustrated I said, "I don't know."

Grover translated for us: "Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium."

Flanking the entrance, as advertised, were two cement garden gnomes, ugly beared little runts, smiling and waving like they were about to get their picture taken.

We crossed the street, following the smell of hamburgers.

"Hey..." Grover warned us.

"The lights are on inside," I said. "Maybe it's open." I really wanted a place to rest and eat, the smell of food was tantalizing.

"Snack bar." Percy said wistfully.

"Snack bar." I agreed.

"Are you two crazy?" Grover said. "This place is weird."

Percy and I ignored him.

The front lot was a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes, which gave Grover the creeps.

"_Blah-ha-ha!" _he bleated. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand."

We stopped at the warehouse door.

"Don't knock." Grover pleaded. "I smell monsters."

"You nose is clogged up from the Furies," I told him, the smell was overpowering. "All I smell is burgers. Aren't you hungry?"

"Meat!" he said scornfully. "I'm a vegetarian."

"You eat cheese enchiladas and aluminum cans," Percy felt the need to remind him.

"Those are vegetables. Come on. Let's leave. These statues are... looking at me."

Then the door creaked open, and standing in front of us was a tall woman, wearing a long black gown that covered everything but her hands, and her head was completely vield. Her eyes glinted behind a curtain of black gauze, but that was about all I could make out. Her coffee-colored hands looked old, but well-manicured and elegant, so I imagined she was grandmother who had once been a beautiful lady.

Her accent sounded vaguely Middle Easter when she spoke. "Children, it is too late to be out all alone. Where are your parents?"

I tried to think on my feet, but something about this lady didn't seem right. "They're ... um..."

"We're orphans." Percy supplied.

"Orphans?" the woman said. The word sounded alien in her mouth. "But, my dears! Surely not!"

"We got separated from our caravan," Percy said. "Our circus caravan. The ringmaster told us to meet him at the gas station if he got lost, but he may have forgotten, or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost. Is that food I smell?"

"Oh, my dears," the woman said. "You must come in, poor children. I am Aunty Em. Go straight through to the back of the warehouse please. There is a dining area."

We thanked her and went inside.

I murmured to Percy, "Circus caravan?"

"Always have a strategy, right?"

"Your head is full of kelp." It was a good cover, Percy could be quick on his feet when he wanted to be.

The warehouse was filled with more statues- people in all different poses, wearing all different outfits and with different expressions on their faces. I was thinking you'd have to have a pretty huge garden to fit even one of these statues, because they were life-size. But mostly, I was still thinking about those burgers.

Now, I know it's not exactly _wise_ to walk into a strange lady's shop like that just because I was hungry. It was extremely impulsive and not like me at all, but something about the place was drawing me in, and Percy seemed to have the same mindset. Plus, Aunty Em's burgers were the best thing that I've ever smelled- it seemed to chase away all other thoughts but that of food.

I noticed that Grover was whimpering, but I didn't care. I was following Percy who was hightailing it to the dining room at the back of the warehouse. And sure enough, there it was. A fast-food counter with a grill, soda fountain, pretzel heater, nacho cheese dispenser. Everything you could want, plus a few steel picnic tables out front.

"Please, sit down." Aunty Em said.

"Awesome." Percy said.

"Um," Grover said reluctantly, "we don't have any money, ma'am."

I was just about to elbow him to be quiet when Aunty Em said, "No, no, children. No money. This is a special case, yes? It is my treat, for such nice orphans."

"Thank you, ma'am." I said.

Aunty Em stiffened, as if I'd said the wrong thing, but the old woman relaxed so quickly that I thought I imagined it.

"Quite all right, Annabeth," she said. "You have such beautiful gray eyes, child."

It didn't strike me as out of the ordinary at the time, but looking back I wondered how she knew my name. I know that we didn't introduce ourselves, just said that we were orphans.

Our hostess disappeared behind the snack counter and started cooking. Before we knew it, she'd brought us plastic trays heaped with double cheeseburgers, vanilla shakes, and XXL servings of French fries.

I ate my burger and slurped on my shake. Grover was still twitchy, he looked too nervous to eat.

"What's that hissing noise?" he asked.

I listened, but didn't hear anything besides the whir of the machines. I shook my head.

"Hissing?" Aunty Em asked. "Perhaps you hear the deep-fryer oil. You have keen ears, Grover."

"I take vitamins. For my ears."

"That's admirable," she said. "But please, relax."

Aunty Em ate nothing. She hadn't taken off her headdress, even to cook, and now she sat forward and interlaced her fingers and watched us eat. It was a little unsettling, having someone stare at me while I couldn't see her face, but I was feeling a little sleepy. I was nodding off, I must have dozed off because I could hear Percy and Aunty Em talking, but I only caught snippets of their conversation. Something about Aunty Em not getting much business and cherishing her customers.

I woke up with a start, when I felt a tingling on the back of my neck like someone was watching me. I whipped around, more alert that I had been since I arrived at the warehouse. There was no one there but the statue of a little girl holding an Easter basket.

I started listening more intently to Aunty Em and Percy's conversation. "Ah. You notice some of my creations do not turn out well. They are marred. They do not sell. The face is the hardest to get right. Always the face."

"You make these statues yourself?" Percy questioned.

"Oh, yes. Once upon a time, I had two sisters to help me in the business, but they have passed on, and Aunty Em is alone. I have only my statues for company." There was such a sadness in her voice, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. But something about her speech caught my attention, I stopped eating.

"Two sisters?" I asked.

"It's a terrible story," Aunty Em said. "Not one for children, really. You see, Annabeth, a bad woman was jealous of me, long ago, when I was young. I had a ... a boyfriend, you know, and this bad woman was determined to break us apart. She caused a terrible accident. My sisters stayed by me. They shared my bad fortune as long as they could, but eventually they passed on. They faded away. I alone have survived, but at a price. Such a price."

All of the sudden, it made sense. Two sisters, Aunty Em.

"Percy?" I was shaking him to get him out of his food coma. "Maybe we should go. I mean, the ringmaster will be waiting."

I was tense and starting to panic. Grover was eating wax paper off his tray.

"Such beautiful gray eyes." Aunty Em told me again. "My, yes, it has been a long time since I've seen gray eyes like those."

She reached out, like she was going to stoke my cheek, but I shoot up before he could reach me.

"We really should go."

"Yes!" Grover swallowed his waxed paper and stood up. Thankfully he was on the same page, Percy was a different story. "The ringmaster is waiting! Right!"

Percy really didn't want to leave. He was firmly planted in his seat, hanging on Aunty Em's every word.

"Please, dears," Aunty Em pleaded. "I so rarely get to be with children. Before you go, won't you at least sit for a pose?"

"A pose?" I said warily, my whole body tensed.

"A photograph. I will use it to model a new statue set. Children are so popular, you see. Everyone loves children."

I shifted my weight from foot to foot, unable to stand still. We really needed to get out of here. "I don't think we can, ma'am. Come on Percy-"

"Sure we can. It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?" Percy said in an irritated voice, like he was mad I was trying to leave.

"Yes, Annabeth. No harm." she purred.

I didn't like it, but I couldn't just leave Percy. Not after what he did for us on the bus, I followed Percy and Aunty Em back out to the front door, into the garden of statues. Aunty Em directed us to a park bench, next to the stone satyr.

"Now," she said. "I'll just position you correctly. The young girl in the middle, I think, and the two young gentlemen on either side."

"Not much light for a photo," Percy said.

"Oh, enough." Aunty Em said. "Enough for us to see each other, yes?"

"Where's your camera?" Grover asked. I was really starting to panic, we were stuck and Percy wasn't budging.

Aunty Em stepped back, as if to admire the shot. "Now, the face is the most difficult. Can you smile for me please, everyone? A large smile?"

I caught Grover glancing at the stone satyr next to him, I hear him mumble something about his Uncle Ferdinand.

"Grover, look this way, dear." Aunty Em chastised.

She still didn't have a camera in her hands. I was ready to bolt. "Percy-"

Percy looked like he wanted to listen to me, but something was stopping him. He had a stupid, contented look on his face.

"I will just be a moment. You know I can't see you very well in this cursed veil..." Aunty Em said.

"Percy something's wrong." I insisted, begging him with my voice to listen. That something terrible was about to happen.

"Wrong?" Aunty Em said, reaching up to undo the wrap around her head. "Not at all, dear. I have such noble company tonight. What could be wrong?"

"That _is _Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover gasped.

"Look away from her!" I shouted, I pulled my Yankees cap out and vanished. I pushed Percy and Grover off the bench. Percy stayed down on the ground while Grover and I scrambled off in opposite directions.

Percy's eyes started to move, looking up at Aunty Em. I screamed to him, "No! Don't!"

"Run!" Grover bleated. I heard him racing across the gravel, yelling. "_Maia_!"I wondered what on earth he was doing, until I realized the shoes on his feet. He must've gotten them from Luke before we left.

Percy still wasn't moving. He was laying on the ground, too dazed to move. I heard Aunty Em say to him, "Such a pity to destroy a handsome young face. Stay with me, Percy. All you have to do is look up."

Percy looked like he was at war with himself trying to decide whether or not to listen. He looked up to his side and I could see that once he saw the reflection of Aunty Em, his expression cleared. Now he understood why I was trying to get us out of here.

Her head wrap was off. I was looking into one of the many garden spheres that Medusa had around her garden. I was right, as soon as I hear the monster talking about her sisters, I knew. I just wasn't quick enough with a plan. I silently cursed myself, trying to think of a plan to get us out of here alive.

"The Gray-Eyed One did this to me, Percy. Annabeth's mother, the cursed Athena, turned me from a beautiful woman into this." Medusa was telling Percy.

"Don't listen to her! Run, Percy!" I shouted.

"Silence," Medusa snarled to the direction she thought my voice came from. "You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy's daughter. I shall crush her statue to dust. But you, dear Percy, you need not suffer."

I shivered. I so did not want to be turned to stone and crushed. _Think, Annabeth, Think..._

"No," Percy muttered.

"Do you really want to help the gods?" Medusa asked him. "Do you understand what awaits you on this foolish quest, Percy? What will happen if you reach the Underworld? Do not be a pawn of the Olympians, my dear. You would be better off as a statue. Less pain. Less pain." Medusa was trying her best to put Percy at ease so he would be tricked into looking her in the eyes.

I was just about to draw my knife when I heard Grover yell. "Percy! Duck!"

Grover was right behind Percy, flying in with the winged shoes. He was holding a tree branch the size of a baseball bat. His eyes were shut tight, his head twitched from side to side. He was navigating by his ears and nose alone.

"Duck!" he yelled again. "I'll get her!"

Percy seemed to snap out of it, he dove to the side just as Grover collided into Medusa. Medusa roared with rage.

"You miserable satyr," she snarled. "I'll add you to my collection!"

"That was for Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover yelled back.

I saw Percy scrambling away to hid in the sanctuary so I followed him. "Percy!" I said from right next to him.

Percy jumped about ten feet, I forgot that I still had on my cap, so I took it off, becoming visible. "You have to cut her head off."

"What? Are you crazy? Let's get out of her."

_Here goes nothing,_ I thought. I was about to unveil my grand plan, made up in the time that Medusa was sweet-talking Percy and Grover dive bombed her. "Medusa is a menace. She's evil. I'd kill her myself, but..." I swallowed, I didn't want to admit it, but I had to. "But you've got the better weapon. Besides, I'd never get close to her. She'd slice me to bits because of my mother. You- you've got a chance."

"What? I can't-"

"Look, do you want her turning more innocent people into statues?" I tried to appeal to his heroic side. I pointed to a pair of statute lovers, a man and a woman with their arms around each other, turned into stone by the monster.

I grabbed one of the glass spheres, a green gazing ball, like the one I used to watch the exchange between Medusa and Percy. "A polished shield would be better. The convexity will cause some distortion. The reflection's size should be off by a factor of-"

"Would you speak English?"

"I _am!" _I snapped, tossing the glass sphere to Percy. "Just look at her in the glass. _Never _look at her directly."

"Hey, guys!" Grover yelled from somewhere above us. "I think she's unconscious!"

_"Roooaaarrr!"_

"Maybe not," Grover corrected. He went in for another pass with the tree branch.

"Hurry," I told Percy. "Grover's got a great nose, but he'll eventually crash."

Percy took out his pen and uncapped it. The bronze blade elongated in his hand. He took off, following the hissing and spitting sounds of Medusa's hair. I saw another gazing sphere off to my right, slipping my cap back on I walked over to it and watched Percy's progress through the reflection. Percy kept his eyes locked on the gazing sphere, like I told him looking for a glimpse of Medusa's reflection. I could see the look change on his face when he finally saw her. He was determined to save Grover and put a stop to Medusa's gnome emporium.

Grover was just about to go for another turn at bat, but this time he flew a little too low and Medusa was able to grab his stick and pull him off course. He tumbled through the air and crashed into the arms of a stone grizzly bear with a painful "Ummphh!"

Medusa was about to lunge when Percy yelled, "Hey!"

He advanced on her, taking careful steps while keeping his eyes locked on the sphere, gripping his sword in the other hand. But, Medusa let him approach. Closer and closer he got, until he was about ten feet away from the monster.

"You wouldn't harm an old woman, Percy," she crooned. "I know you wouldn't."

I saw Percy hesitate, while gazing at Medusa's reflection. From the cement grizzly I heard Grover moan, "Percy, don't listen to her!"

Medusa cackled. "Too late."

She lunged at Percy with her talons, I gasped, until I saw that this was part of Percy's plan. As soon as she got close enough, Percy slashed up with his sword, hitting her in the neck with a _shlock!_, then there was a loud hiss, like wind rushing out of a cavern. Medusa's head fell onto the ground next to Percy's foot. I could tell he was struggling not to look as the snakes tugged at his shoelaces.

"Oh, yuck," Grover said. His eyes were still tightly closed. "Mega-yuck."

I took off my cap as I walked up to Percy, and grabbed Medusa's veil off the ground. I kept my eyes fixed on the sky, my hands wringing in the veil's fabric. I said, "Don't move."

Very, very carefully, still looking up, I knelt down and draped the monsters head in the black cloth and picked it up. It was still dripping green juice.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, my voice trembling. I was still shaking from the whole scenario, Percy or Grover could have been killed. I tried to keep my hands from shaking.

"Yeah. Why didn't...why didn't the head evaporate?" Percy asked, breathless.

"Once you sever it, it becomes a spoil of war," I said. "Same as your minotaur horn. But don't unwrap the head. It can still petrify you."

Grover moaned as he climbed down from the grizzly statue. He had a big welt on his forehead. His green rasta cap hung from one of his horns, and his fake feet had been knocked off. The magic sneakers were flying aimlessly around his head.

"The Red Baron. Good job, man." Percy told Grover, who grinned bashfully.

"That really was _not_ fun, though. Well, the hitting-her-with-a-stick part, that was fun. But crashing into a concrete bear? _Not _fun." He snatched his shoes out of the air, and Percy recapped his sword. Together, the three of us stumbled back to the warehouse.

We found some old plastic grocery bags behind the snack counter and double-wrapped Medusa's head. We plopped it on the table where we'd eaten dinner at sat around it, too exhausted to speak.

"So we have Athena to thank for this monster?" Percy asked after a long time of silence. I wish he'd said nothing at all. He went and killed Medusa, being so heroic and then he had to ruin it by saying something stupid. Typical Percy. I gave him my most irritated look.

"Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Athena turned her into a monster. Medusa and her two sisters who had helped her get into the temple, they became the three gorgons. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up, but she wanted to preserve you as a nice statue. She's still sweet on your dad. You probably reminded her of him."

Percy had the decency to blush, and it kind of made up for his question. Then he had the nerve to say, "Oh, so now it's _my_ fault we met Medusa."

I straighten up. I imitated Percy's voice, saying: " 'It's just a photo, Annabeth. What's the harm?' "

"Forget it," Percy said. "You're impossible."

"You're insufferable." I snap back.

"You're-"

"Hey!" Grover interrupted us. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even _get_ migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"

I was still fuming, but Grover had a point. We couldn't just leave it here. I was staring at the bag, one little snake was hanging out of the bag. Suddenly, Percy sprang up from the table, "I'll be back."

"Percy," I called after him. "What are you-"

"Ugh, he really is insufferable." I said to Grover who just shrugged back. We lapsed into silence and stayed that way until Percy came back to the table with box and a delivery slip. I watched him as he filled it out:

The Gods

Mount Olympus

600th Floor

Empire State Building

New York, NY

With best wishes,

PERCY JACKSON

"They're not going to like that," Grover said what I was thinking. " They'll think you're impertinent."

Percy didn't answer right away, he poured golden drachmas in the pouch. As soon as he closed it, there was a sound like a cash register. The package floated off the table and disappeared with a _pop!_

"I _am _important," he said, he looked at me like he was daring me to criticize him. I didn't say anything. Percy had a major talent for ticking off the gods, and me for that matter. So I just let the comment slide, "Come on," I muttered. "We need a new plan."

...

...

_Thank you all so much for reading! I really appreciate it :3_

_A special thank you goes out to everyone who reviewed and/or favorite this story. You guys are rockstars!_

_-xox Kirstie_


	8. FYI :)

_Hey all, this isn't a chapter update, sorry! I just wanted to thank everyone for reading this and in case you didn't read the description, this is the Lightning Thief, just in Annabeth's voice and not Percy's. All the dialogue, and scenarios are the same, I just change it so Annabeth is the one narrating and describing everything how I think she would._

_Thank you all again for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following. You guys are my ambrosia and nectar, you make me want to keep up with the story! _

_You all are awesome :)_

_-xox Kirstie_


	9. Chapter 8 (We Get Advice From A Poodle)

**Chapter 8 (We Get Advice From A Poodle)**

We were pretty miserable that night.

We camped out in the woods, a hundred years from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with a disgusting mix of flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers.

We'd taken some food and blankets from Aunty Em's, but we didn't dar light a fire to dry our damp clothes. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. We really didn't need to be attracting any more monsters.

We decided to sleep in shifts, Percy volunteered to take first watch. So I curled up in my blankets and as soon as my head hit the ground, I was asleep. When I woke up, it was still dark and Percy was fast asleep. Typical. He stayed asleep until daylight, occasionally saying something incoherent. Then, he started muttering in his sleep, trembling. I was trying to shake him awake, just when I was starting to get nervous, he opened his eyes.

"Well," I said, "the zombie lives."

He was still trembling, "How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough for me to cook breakfast." I tossed him a bag of nacho-flavored corn chips we'd nicked from Aunty Em's snack bar. "And Grover went exploring. Look, he found a friend."

I said pointing to where Grover was sitting, with a pink poodle in his lap. He had wandered off just around daybreak and had come back with a dirty, beraggled looking pink poodle. It growled at me until Grover told him I wasn't going to take him back to his family.

As soon as the poodle caught sight of Percy it started yapping. Grover said, "No, he's not."

Percy blinked slowly. "Are you... talking to that thing?"

The poodle growled.

"This _thing_," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

"You can talk to animals?"

Grover ignored Percy. "Percy meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."

Percy stared at me, like he was waiting for me to laugh or tell him it was some kind of joke. I wished it was, but it wasn't this poodle was the only way we were going to make it west.

"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle," he said. "Forget it."

"Percy," I chastised. "I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."

The poodle growled. Percy said hello to the poodle.

Grover told Percy what he had already explained to me about Gladiola. Gladiola was wandering in the woods and he and Grover had struck up a converstaion. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked.

"He read the signs," Grover said. "Duh."

"Of course. Silly me." Percy looked like he didn't know what to believe anymore.

"So we turn in Gladiola," I explained, "we get the money and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

Percy had a look on his face like he was having doubts about my plan. He finally said, "Not another bus."

"No," I agreed. I pointed downhill, toward train tracks. "There's an Amtrack station half a mile that way. According to Gladiola, the westbound train leaves at noon."

...

...

_As always, thank you for reading, and for those of you how leave reviews, you keep me going. You guys always make my day :)_

_-xox Kirstie_


	10. Chapter 9 (I Plunge To My Death)

**Chapter 9 (I Plunge To My Death)**

We spent the next two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.

We weren't attacked once, but that didn't make me relax. I had a feeling we were being watched, like something was just biding its time waiting for the most opportune moment to attack us.

We had tried to keep a low profile because Percy's name and picture were splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The _Trenton Register-News_ even showed a picture taken by a tourist as we got off the Greyhound bus. He had a wild look in his eyes, and his sword was a metallic blur in his hands.

The picture's caption read:

Twelve-year old Percy Jackson, wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing form the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. The bus exploded on the east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson fled the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with two teenage accomplises. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

"Don't worry," I told Percy. "Mortal police could never find us." I was trying to make him feel better, but even as I said it, I wasn't so sure it was true. We'd caused quite a scene on the roadside back in Jersey.

Percy spent the rest of that day pacing the length of the train, and looking out the windows, like his ADHD was really acting up.

Our reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. We couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so we dozed in our seats. My neck got stiff.

Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up. Once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off. Percy and I had to stick it back on before any of the passengers noticed.

"So," I asked Percy. "Who wants your help?" Whenever Percy would doze off, he would mutter in his sleep. Most of it made no sense of me, but a couple times he would say things that would make sense.

"When you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?"

Percy looked reluctant to tell me, but he ended up telling me he was dreaming of an evil voice coming from a pit. He seemed relieved to get it off his chest.

I thought about it for a long time, "That doesn't sound like Hades. He always appears on a black throne, and he never laughs."

"He offered my mother in trade. Who else could do that?"

"I guess... if he meant, 'Help me rise from the Underworld.' If he wants war with the Olympians. But why ask you to bring him the master bolt if he already has it?"

Percy just shook his head. Grover snorted in his sleep and muttered something about vegetables, and turned his head. I readjusted his cap, so it covered his horns. "Percy, you can't barter with Hades. You know that, right? He's deceitful, heartless, and greedy. I don't care if his Kindly Ones weren't as aggressive this time-"

"This time?" Percy asked. "You mean you've run into them before?"

My hand crept up to my necklace, I couldn't help but play with the glazed white bead with Thalia's pine tree on it. My mind going back to the day were we arrived at Camp and Thalia had died. "Let's just say I've got no love for the Lord of the Dead. You can't be tempted to make a deal for your mom."

"What would you do if it was your dad?"

"That's easy," I said. "I'd leave him to rot."

"You're not serious?"

I fixed my eyes on Percy. "My dad's resented me since the day i was born, Percy," I said. "He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent."

"But how... I mean, I guess you weren't born in a hospital..."

"I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr, the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something. But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Aehtna. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist." I don't really know why I'd told Percy all of this, but I felt a little better.

Percy was quiet for a long time, looking our the window. "My mom married a really awful guy," he told me. "Grover said she did it to protect me, to hid me in the scent of a human family. Maybe that's what your dad was thinking."

I just kept playing with the beads on my necklace and the college ring that my dad have given me. "He doesn't care about me," I said. "His wife-my stepmom- treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened- you know, something with monsters-they would both look at me resentfully like, 'How dare you put our family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."

"How old were you?"

"Same age as when I started camp. Seven."

"But... you couldn't have gotten all the way to Half-Blood Hill by yourself."

"Not alone, no. Athena watched over me, guided me toward help. I made a couple of unexpected friends who took care of me, for a short time, anyway."

I got lost in the memories of Luke, Thalia and I making our way to Camp, our own little family. I got wistful whenever I thought about it, and in the end, Thalia had sacrificed herself for Luke and I, it never failed to make me want to cry.

Toward the end of our second day on the train, June 13, eight days before the summer solstice, we passed through some golden hills and over the Mississippi River from St. Louis. I craned my neck to see the Gateway Arch, one of the most interesting monuments in the United States.

"I want to do that," I sighed.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Build something like that. You ever see the Parthenon, Percy?"

"Only in pictures."

"Someday," I told him, "I'm going to see it in persona. I'm going to build the greatest monument to the gods, ever. Something that'll last a thousand years."

Percy laughed at me, "You? An architect?"

My cheeks flushed, embarrassed and a little put off. "Yes, an architect. Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down, like a certain god of earthquakes I could mention." Percy didn't answer, and I instantly felt bad for what I'd said. It wasn't Percy's fault.

"Sorry. That was mean." I said.

"Can't we work together a little?" Percy pleaded, looking at me with those sea green eyes. "I mean, didn't Athena and Poseidon ever cooperate?"

I thought about it, and then I remembered, "I guess... the chariot. My mom invented it, but Poseidon created horses our of the crests of waves. So they had to work together to make it complete."

"Then we can cooperate, too. Right?"

I didn't answer right away. Percy was so hopeful, but there was a lot of animosity there. It wasn't Percy or my problem though, "I suppose," I said after a while.

We pulled into the Amtrak station downtown. The intercom told us we'd have a three-hour layover before departing for Denver.

Grover stretched, and before he was even fully awake, he said, "Food."

"Come on, goat boy. Sightseeing." I said.

"Sightseeing?"

"The Gateway Arch," I said. "This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"

Grover and Percy exchanged looks. Percy looked like he wanted to say no, Grover just shrugged. "As long as there's a snack bar without monsters."

The Arch was about a mile from the train station. Late in the day the lines to get in weren't that long. We threaded our way through the underground museum, looking at covered wagons and other amazing things from the 1880s. It was all so interesting, I kept telling Percy and Grover interesting facts about how the Arch was built, even though I knew they didn't appreciate it.

"You smell anything?" Percy asked Grover.

"Underground," Grover said distastefully, through a mouth filled with jellybeans. "Underground air always smells like monsters. Probably doesn't mean anything."

Something felt wrong though, even though I was in a great mood, I had a feeling we shouldn't be here.

"Guys," Percy said. "You know the gods' symbols of power?"

I was in the middle of reading about construction equipment, but I looked over, "Yeah?"

"Well, Hade-"

Grover cleared his throat. "We're in a public place... You mean, our friend downstairs?"

"Um, right," Percy continued. "Our friend _way_ downstarirs. Doesn't he have a hat like Annabeth's?"

"You mean the Helm of Darkness," I said. "Yeah, that's his symbol of power. I saw it next to his seat during the winter solstice council meeting."

"He was there?" Percy asked.

I nodded. "It's the only time he's allowed to visit Olympus- the darkest day of the year. But his helm is a lot more powerful than my invisibility hat, if what I've heard is true..."

"It allows him to become darkness," Grover confirmed. "He can melt into shadow or pass through walls. He can't be touched, or seen, or head. And he can radiate fear so intense it can drive you insane or stop your heart. WHy do you think all rational creatures fear the dark?"

"But then... how do we know he's not here right now, watching us." Percy asked. It was a good point, Grover and I exchanged looks.

"We don't." Grover said.

"Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better," I said. "Got any blue jelly beans left?"

We finally got to the elevator car that would take us to the top of the Arch. We got stuck in the minuscule car with a big lady and her Chihuahua. We started going up, inside the Arch. I was exhilarated, it was such an amazing architectural feat.

"No parents?" the lady asked us.

The lady had beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulged.

"They're below," I told her. "Scared of heights."

"Oh, the poor darlings."

The Chihuahua growled. The woman said, "Now, now, sonny. Behave."

Percy asked, "Sonny. Is that his name?"

"No," the lady told him. Percy looked extremely confused, but the lady just smiled at him.

At the top of the Arch, tiny rows of windows looked out over the city on side side and river on the other. The view was amazing, just thinking about all the supports that went into making the Arch was astounding. I kept telling Grover and Percy about all changes I would have made if I designed the arch: bigger windows, a see-through floor. I could have stayed up in the Arch for hours mulling over all the archeiture. But, the park ranger announced that the observation deck would be closing in a few minutes.

Percy steered Grover and I toward the exit, and loaded us into an elevator. He was acting really jumpy, I guess he wasn't a big fan of heights, or small spaces. Percy was about to step onto the elevator himself, when he realized there were already two other tourists inside. There was no room.

"Next car, sir." said the park ranger.

"We'll get out," I said. "We'll wait with you." I didn't want to leave Percy on his own, he seemed whacked out enough as it was.

"Naw, it's okay. I'll see you guys at the bottom.

Grover and I exchanged a nervous look, but we let the elevator door slide shut, and our car took off down the ramp. I felt like something really bad was going to happen, and Grover kept chewing on his nails. Once we got to the bottom, Grover and I stepped to the side and waited fro Percy. I was starting to get impatient. So naturally, that's when all Hades broke loose.

...

...

_Thanks everyone. You're all amazing :3 _

_Updates may become a little infrequent unfortunately due to the fall semester starting up. But don't worry! I'm not going to abandon this sorry I have chapters typed up, I'm just trying to space them out for you guys :)_

_-xox Kirstie_


	11. Chapter 10 (I Become A Known Fugitive)

**Chapter 10 (I Become A Known Fugitive)**

Something bad happened. There was an explosion up by the observation deck. Fire flaring out all of the windows. Grover and I looked at each other, not able to process what happened.

"Do you think-" Grover started.

"He's fine, let's just stick around, that way he can find us." I said, but I was worried. It didn't look good, I know we shouldn't have left him. It all happened so fast.

Grover and I busied ourselves by walking around the perimeter the police had set up. After what seemed like days of searching every face in the crowd, I heard Grover bleat, "Perrrr-cy!"

Grover ran over to Percy and tackle-hugged him. He said, "We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way."

I hung back, stuck between anger and relief. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"

"I sort of fell."

I was shocked, "Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"

From behind us, we heard a cop yell, "Gangway!"

The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. A flash of recognition crossed Percy's face. The woman on the stretcher was near hysterics, "And then this hug dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua-"

"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."

"I'm not crazy! This boy jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then he eyes fell on Percy. "There he is! That's the boy!"

Percy turned quickly, taking Grover and me along with him. We disappeared into the crowd.

"What's going on?" I demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"

That's when Percy told us the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, his high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message.

"Whoa," Grover said, pretty much summing up what I was thinking. "We've got to you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from you dad?"

I was about to protest when we passed another reporter doing a news break, I had to keep pulling Percy along when we heard him say: "Percy jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. _And_ the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."

We ducked around the news can and slipped into an alley.

"First things first," Percy told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"

Somehow, we made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. We got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind us.

...

...

thanks for being patient everyone, and thanks for all the follows and reviews. you guys are the best! i'm trying to keep up the best i can, but classes started so bear with me.

thanks everyone :3

-xox kirstie


	12. Chapter 11 (A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers)

**Chapter 11 (A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers)**

The next afternoon, June 14, seven days before the solstice, our train rolled into Denver. We hadn't eaten since the night before in the dining car, somewhere in Kansas. We hadn't taken a shower since Half-Blood Hill, and I was sure that was obvious. I can't even remember the last time my hair saw a brush.

"Let's try to contact Chiron," Annabeth said. "I want to tell him about your talk with the river spirit."

"We can't use phones, right?"

"I'm not talking about phones."

I didn't elaborate for Percy's benefit, I really wasn't in the mood. All this traveling was trying my patience. We wandered through downtown for about half and hour, though I wasn't sure what Annabeth was looking for. The air was dry and hot, which felt weird after the humidity of St. Louis. Everywhere we turned, the Rocky Mountains were looming in the distance.

Finally we found an empty do-it-yourself car wash. We veered toward the tall farthest from the street, keeping our eyes open for patrol cars. We were three kids hanging out at a car wash without a car, any cop would automatically assume we were up to no good.

"What exactly are we doing?" Percy asked Grover as he took out a spray gun.

"It's seventy-five cents," Grover grumbled. "I've only got two quarters left. Annabeth?"

"Don't look at me," I said. "The dining car wiped me out."

Percy fished out his last bit of change, and passed Grover a quarter. I didn't know how we were going to make it the rest of the quest with no money, but I tried to put that thought out of my mind.

"Excellent," Grover said. "We could do it with a spray bottle, of course, but the connection isn't as good, and my arm gets tired of pumping."

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

Grover fed the quarters into the machine and set the knob to FINE MIST. "I-M'ing."

"Instant messaging?"

"_Iris- _messaging." I corrected him. "The rainbow goddess Iris carries messages for the gods. If you know how to ask, and she's not too busy, she'll do the same for half-bloods."

"You summon the goddess with a spray gun?"

I was about to snap at him, but Grover cut me off, "Unless you know an easier way to make a rainbow." He pointed the nozzle in the air and water hissed out in a thick white mist.

The late afternoon light filtered through the water vapor and broke into colors.

I held out my hand, "Drachma, please."

Percy handed it over. I raised the coin over my head, "O goddess, accept our offering."

I threw the drachma into the rainbow, and it disappeared into a golden shimmer.

"Half-Blood Hill," I requested. For a moment nothing happened, then we were looking through the mist at strawberry fields and the Long Island sound in the distance. We were on the porch of the Big House, and standing with his back to us was Luke. My heart skipped a beat.

"Luke!" Percy called.

He turned, his eyes wide. It looked like he was standing right in front of us, not hundreds of miles away.

"Percy!" His face broke into a grin. "Is that Annabeth, too? Thank the gods! Are you guys okay?"

"We're... uh... fine," I stammered, trying to make sure my hair wasn't a complete mess. "We thought- Chiron- I mean-"

"He's down at the cabins," the smile fading off his face. "W're having some issues with the campers. Listen, is everything cool with you? Is Grover alright?"

"I'm right here," Grover called. He held the nozzle out to one side and stepped into Luke's line of vision. "What kind of issues?"

Just then a big Lincoln Contienental pulled into the car wash with its setero turned to maximum hip-hop. As the car slid into the next stall, the bass from the subwoofers vibrated so much, it shook the pavement.

"Chiron had to- what's that noise?" Luke yelled.

"I'll take care of it!" I yelled back, kind of relieved to get out of sight. "Grover, come on!"

"What?" Grover said. "But-"

"Give Percy the nozzle and come I!" I ordered.

Grover muttered something about me under his breath, and he handed off the spray gun to Percy and followed me into the next stall. I had an idea and it was going to involve Grover losing his pants, and some other things I don't really want to go into. But sure enough, one of the guys screamed in terror, slammed his doors shut and he peeled out of the car wash.

Grover and I couldn't stop laughing as we rounded the corner, back to Percy. But, there was a strange torn expression on Percy's face, that caused my smile to fade. "What happened, Percy? What did Luke say?"

"Not much," he said, but I could tell he wasn't being one hundred percent truthful, but I let it slide. For now. "Come on, let's find some dinner."

A few minutes later, we were sitting at a booth in a gleaming chrome diner. All around us, families were eating burgers and drinking malts and sodas. Finally the waitress came over. She raised her eyebrow skeptically. "Well?"

Percy spoke up, "We, um, want to order dinner."

"You kids have money to pay for it?"

Grover's lower lip quivered, I felt about ready to pass out from hunger. Percy looked like he was trying to think up a good sob story when a rumble shook the whole building. A motorcycle the size of a baby elephant had pulled up the curb.

All conversation in the diner stopped. The motorcycle's headlight glared red. Its gas tank had flames painted on it, and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with the shotguns. The seat looked like it was made of out of- human skin.

My heart dropped as I recognized the god on the bike. He was dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans with a black leather duster. He had a hunting knife strapped to his thigh and he wore red wrap around sunglasses. He had a brutish, cruel face. As he walked into the diner, a hot, dry wind blew through the place. All the people rose, as if they were being hypnotized, but the biker waved his hand dismissively and they all sat down again. Everybody went back to their converstaions. The waitress blinked, as if someone had just pressed the rewind button.

The waitress turned her attention back to us, "You kids have money to pay for it?"

Ares the god of war, said. "It's on me."

_Oh man, this is not good_ I thought as he slid into our booth, with was way to small. He crowded me against the window, and I was less than happy. Ares looked up at the waitress, who was gaping at him, and said, "Are you still here?"

He pointed at her, and she stiffended. She turned as if she'd been spun around, then marched back toward the kitchen.

The biker turned his gaze on Percy. "So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?"

"What's it to you?" Percy snapped at Ares.

I gave Percy a look, "Percy, this is-"

The biker raised his hand.

"S'okay. I don't mind a little attitdue. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?" Ares quipped.

Percy had a look like a lightbulb just flashed in front of his eyes. "You're Clarisse's dad. Ares, god of war."

Ares grinned and took off his shades. Where his eyes should've been, there was only fire, empty sockets glowing with miniature nuclear explosions. "That's right punk. I heard you broke Clarisse's spear."

"She was asking for it."

"Probably. That's cool. I don't fight my kids' fights, you know? What I'm here for- I hear you were in town. I got a little proposition for you."

The waitress came back with heaping trays of food- cheeseburgers, fries, onion rings, and chocolate shakes.

Ares handed her a few gold drachmas, the waitress looked nervously at the coins, "But, these aren't..."

Ares pulled out his huge knife and started cleaning his fingernails. "Problem, sweetheart?"

The waitress swallowed, then left with the drachma. "You can't just do that. You can't just threaten people with a knife." Percy said.

Ares just laughed at him. "Are you kidding? I love this country. Best place since Sparta. Don't you carry a weapon, punk? You should. Dangerous world out there. Which brings me to my proposition. I need you to do me a favor."

"What favor could I do for a god." Percy said incredulously.

"Something a god doesn't have time to do himself. It's nothing much. I left my shield at at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little...date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me."

"Why don't you go back and get it yourself?"

The fire in his eye sockets glowed a little hotter. Percy really had a talent for ticking people off, and it wasn't just me, gods were victims too.

"Why don't I turn you into a prairie dog and run you over with my Harley? Because I don't feel like it. A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?" He leaned toward Percy. "Or maybe you only fight when there's a river to dive into, so your daddy can protect you."

Percy looked like he was ready to punch Ares in the face. I prayed he wouldn't do it.

"We're not interested. We've already got a quest." Percy told the god of war.

Percy spaced out for a moment, after Ares started him down. "I know all about your quest, punk. When that _item_ was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn't sniff out a weapon that powerful..." He licked his lips, as if they very thought of the master bolt made him power hungry. "Well... if I couldn't find it, you got no hope. Nevertheless, I'm trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I'm the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

"You told him Hades stole the bolt?" Percy asked.

"Sure. Framing somebody to start a war. Oldest trick in the book. I recognized it immeditaly. In a way, you got me to thank for your little quest."

"Thanks," he grumbled.

"Hey, I'm a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I'll help you on your way. I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends."

"We're doing fine on our own."

"Yeah, right. No money. No wheels. No clue what you're up against. Help me out, and maybe I'll tell you something you need to know. Something about your mom."

That really piqued Percy's interest. "My mom?"

He grinned. "That got your attention. The water park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride."

"What interrupted you date? Something scare you off." Percy asked. I was about to kick him from under the table. He really needed to learn when to stop running his mouth.

Ares bared his teeth at Percy. "You're lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They're not as forgiving of rudeness as i am. I'll meet you back here when you're done. Don't disappoint me."

After Ares' speech. I must have fainted, or been in a trance, because when I opened my eyes Ares was gone.

"Not good," Grover said. "Ares sought you out, Percy. This is not good."

Percy just stared out the window. He was looking toward the motorcycle, or rather, where the motorcycle was. He had that far-off look in his eyes like he was trying to go over what just happened. After a few minutes he said, "It's probably some kind of trick. Forget Ares. Let's just go."

"We can't," I said. "Look, I hate Ares as much as anybody, but you didn't ignore the gods unless you want serious bad fortune. He wasn't kidding about turning you into a rodent."

Percy looked down at his cheeseburger, "Why does he need us?"

"Maybe it's a problem that requires brains," I told him. "Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

"But this water park... he acted almost scared. What would make a war god run away like that?" Percy asked me.

Grover and i glanced nervously at each other, both trying to think of a suitable answer for Percy.

I spoke up, "I'm afraid we'll have to find out."

The sun was sinking behind the mountains by the time we found the water park. Judging from the sign, it once had been called WATERLAND, but now some of the letters were smashed out, so it read WATRAD.

The main gate was padlocked and topped with barbed wire. Inside, huge dry water slides, tubes and pipes curled everywhere, leading to empty decrepit-looking pools. Old tickets and advertisements fluttered around on the asphalt. With the coming of night, the place looked sad and creepy.

"If Ares brings his girlfriend here for a date, I'd hate to see what she looks like." Percy quipped.

"Percy. Be more respectful." I said.

"Why? I thought you hated Ares?"

"He's still a god. And his girlfriend is very temperamental." I told him.

"You don't want to insult her looks," Grover added. I nodded in agreement.

"Who is she? Echidna?"

"No, Aphrodite," Grover said with a dreamy look on his face. "Goddess of love."

"I thought she was married to somebody," Percy said.

"Hephaestus."

"What's your point?" Grover questioned.

Percy looked like he wanted to change the subject, "Oh. So how do we get in?"

"_Maia_!" Grover's shoes sprouted wings. He flew over the fence, did an unintentional somersault in midair, and then stumbled to a landing on the opposite side.

He dusted off his jeans and gave us a look. "You guys coming?"

Percy and I had to climb over the fence, holding down the barbed wire for each other as we crawled over the top.

The shadows grew long as we walked through the abandoned waterpark. We checked out all the attractions: Ankle Biter Island, Head Over Wedgie, and Dude, Where's My Swimsuit?

No monsters came charging at us, nothing made even the slightest noise. We came across a souvenir shop that had been left unlocked. Merchandise still lined the shelves" snow globes, pencils, postcards, and racks of clothes.

"Clothes. Fresh clothes. " I said wistfully.

"Yeah," Percy said. "But you can't just-"

"Watch me."

I grabbed an entire row of stuff off the racks and I went into one of the dressing rooms to change. I decided on Waterland flower-print shorts, a huge red Waterland t-shirt, and the hideous commemorative Waterland surf shoes. A packed other fresh clothes in a backpack that I found. I felt kind of bad, but no one was using this stuff and we were in desperate need of fresh clothes.

"What the heck." Grover shrugged. A couple minutes later we were all dressed up like walking Waterland advertisements. Once we were all changed, we continued our search for the Tunnel of Love. I had a strange feeling, like the whole park was holding its breath. Something bad was bound to happen.

"So Ares and Aphrodite, they have a thing going?" Percy asked me.

"That's old gossip, Percy. Three thousand-year-old gossip." I told him.

"What about Aphrodite's husband?"

"Well, you know. Hephaestus. The blacksmith. He was crippled when he was a baby, thrown off Mount Olympus by Zeus. So he isn't exactly handsome. Clever with his hands and all, but Aphrodite isn't into brains and talent, you know?"

"She likes bikers."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever."

"Hephaestus knows?"

"Oh sure," I said. "He caught them together once. I mean, literally caught them, in a golden net, and invited all the gods to come and laugh at them. Hephaestus is always trying to embarass them. That's why they meet in out-of-the-way places, like..."

I stopped. Straight ahead was an empty pool, about fifty yards across and shaped like a bowl. "

Around the rim, a dozen bronze statues of Cupid stood guared with wings spread and bows ready to fire. On the opposite side from us, a tunnel opened up, where the water would flow into the pool when there was water. The sign about it read, THRILL LOVE O' LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE!

"Like that.' I said.

Grover crept slowly toward the edge of the pool, "Guys look."

Marooned at the bottom of the pool was a pink-and-white two-seater boat with a canopy over the top and little hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glittering in the fading light, was Ares's sheild, a polished circle of bronze.

"This is too easy," Percy said. "So we just walk down there and get it?"

I knew it couldn't be this easy. I was thinking, running my fingers along the base of the nearest Cupid statue.

"There's a Greek letter carved here. Eta. I wonder..." I said trailing off. It just had to mean something, but Percy, as usual, interrupted my train of thought.

"Grover, you smell any monsters?"

He sniffed the wind. "Nothing."

"Nothing- like in-the-Arch-and-you-didn't-smell-Echinda nothing or really nothing?"

Grover looked hurt. "I told you, that was underground."

"Okay, I'm sorry." Percy said, taking a deep breath. "I'm going down there."

"I'll go with you." Grover said, not sounding too happy about it. I had the feeling he was trying to make up for St. Louis, especially since Percy was tactless and brought it up.

"No," Percy told him. "I want you to stay up top with the flying shoes. You're the Red Baron, a flying ace, remember? I'll be counting on you for backup, in case something goes wrong."

Grover looked pleased. "Sure. But what could go wrong?"

"I don't know. Just a feeling. Annabeth, come with me-"

"Are you kidding?" I said, I wasn't really paying attention to the conversation, I was still thinking about the Eta on the statue. But Percy asking me to go on the tunnel of love snapped me right out of my revere. I just stared at Percy, pretty sure my cheeks were red.

"What's the problem now?" Percy huffed.

"Me, go with you to the... the 'Thrill Ride of Love'? How embarrassing is that? What if somebody saw me."

Now I was positive my cheeks were red. "Who's going to see you?" Percy said, now realizing how embarrassing the situation was.

"Fine, I'll do it myself." Percy said. But, I followed him down the side of the pool anyway. Muttering to myself how stupid boys were and how they always had to go and mess things up. Especially _this_ boy.

We reached the boat. The shield was propped on one seat, and next to it was a silk scarf. Something to my right caught my eye, it was me and Percy in the reflection of mirrors that ran from the top of the ride to the bottom. All facing us. Ares and Aphrodite must have loved this, the chance to watch themselves. Typical gods.

Percy picked up the scarf, I saw it shimmer pink. A dreamy look crossed Percy's face, that's when I ripped it out of his hands, stuffing the scarf into my pocket. "Oh, no you don't. Stay away from that love magic."

"What?" Percy said, the dreamy look replaced with his default confused face.

"Just get the shield, Seaweed Brain, and let's get out of here."

The moment that Percy touched the shield, I knew we were in trouble. My gut feeling was right. Percy looked at his hand, and I saw what looked like a metal filament, so fine that it was almost invisible. A trip wire.

"Wait." I said.

"Too late."

"There's another Greek letter on the side of the boat, another Eta. This is a trap." I said.

Noise erupted all around us, the sound of a million gears grinding as it the pool had turned into a giant machine.

Grover yelled to us, "Guys!"

Up on the rim of the pool, the Cupid statues were drawing their bows into firing position. I was about to suggest taking cover, but they fired. They fired not at us, but at each other. Silky cables trailed form the arrows, arching over the pool and anchoring where they landed to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads started weaving themselves together, making a huge net.

"We have to get out," Percy said, stating the obvious.

"Duh!"

Percy grabbed the shield and we ran, going up the slope of the pool was not as easy as climbing down.

"Come on!" Grover urged us, shouting.

He was trying to hold open a section of the netting, but wherever he touched it, the golden threads started to wrap themselves around his hands.

The Cupids' heads popped open, and out came video cameras. Spotlights rose up all around the pool, blinding us with the light, and a loudspeaker voice boomed: "Live to Olympus in one minute... Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight..."

"Hephaestus!" I screamed, cursing myself. "I'm so stupid! Eta is 'H'. He made this trap to catch his wife with Ares. Now we're going to be broadcast live to Olympus and look like absolute fools!"

I kept cursing myself, some daughter of the goddess of wisdom I was. We kept climbing and we almost made it to the rim when the row of mirrors opened up like hatches and thousands of tiny metallic... things poured out. Oh my gods, spiders!

I screamed, going into a full panic. I hate, hate, hated spiders.

They formed an army of wind-up spiders. I couldn't even tell you what they looked like because I was too busy freaking out.

"Spiders! Sp-sp-aaaah!" I just kept on screaming, unable to calm down. I fell backward, and Percy pulled me up and dragged me back toward the boat.

Even more spiders poured from the rim of the pool, millions of them, surrounding us.

Percy and I climbed into the boat. Percy did his best to try to kick away the spiders as they swarmed us, he was yelling at me to help, but I was too paralyzed with fear. The only thing I could do was scream.

"Thirty, twenty-nine," called the loudspeaker

The spiders started shooting out metal thread, trying to tie Percy and I down to the boat. Percy was breaking the strands, but they were coming so fast he couldn't keep up. He kicked a spider away from my leg, I was still screaming.

I was vaguely aware of Grover hovering above the pool, trying to pull the net loose, but he wasn't having any luck.

"Fifteen, fourteen," called the loudspeaker.

I could tell Percy was trying to come up with a plan. Finally he had a look of triumph on his face, "Grover! Get into that booth! Find the 'on' switch!"

"But-"

"Do it!" he yelled. I was still screaming my head off. I have never been so scared and helpless in my life. Looking back I was mad at myself for being useless.

"Five, four."

I saw Percy close his eyes, a look of concentration etched on his face.

"Two, one, _zero_!"

Water exploded out of the pipes. It roared into the pool, sweeping away the spiders. Percy pulled me into the seat next to him and fastened my seat belt just as the tidal wave slammed into the boat, over the top and taking all of the metallic spiders with it. The boat turned, lifted in the flood of water, and spun in circles around the whirlpool.

The water was full of the short-circuting spiders. I was finally able to stop screaming as I watched them smash against the walls. Spotlights glared down at us. The Cupid-cameras were rolling, sending us live to Olympus.

Miraculously, the boat didn't slam against the walls. From the look on Percy's face, I knew he had something to do with it. We spun around one last time, the water was level now and was almost high enough to have us hit our heads on the golden net. Then the boat's nose turned toward the tunnel and we rocketed through into the darkness.

Percy and I held on tight, Percy joining my in my terrified screaming. The boat rocked, shooting around corners and taking forty-five degree plunges past pictures of Romeo and Juliet and a bunch of other Valentine's day decor.

Then we shot out of the tunnel, the night air whistling through our hair as the boat barreled staright toward the exit. If the ride was in working order, we woudn't sailed off a ramp between the golden Gates of Love and splashed down safely into the exit pool. But there was a problem, the gates were chained. Two boats had been washed out of the tunnel already, and they were piled against the gates- one submerged and the other cracked in half.

"Unfasten your seatbelt!" Percy yelled.

"Are you crazy?"

"Unless you want to get smashed to death." He strapped Are' shield to his arm. "We're going to have to jump for it."

I looked around, and I finally saw what Percy was planning. The idea was simple enough, we would have to jump as the boat struck, using the force like a springboard to jump over the gate.

I gripped Percy's hand. "On my mark." Percy said.

"No! On my mark!"

"What?"

"Simple physics!" I yelled at him. "Force times the trajectory angle-"

"Fine! On _your_ mark!" Percy yelled.

I hesitated, waiting until the tiny window of time that would get us safely over the gate. I waited, waited, then yelled, "Now!"

Crack!

I got us maximum life, but I was a little off on the angle. We got more than we need and we were thrown into the air, straight over the gates, over the pool and down toward the asphalt.

Something grabbed us from behind.

I yelled, "Ouch!"

Grover had grabbed us in midair, me by the arm and Percy by the shirt. He was trying to pull us out of our wild dive, but Percy and I had too much momentum.

"You're too heavy! We're going down!"

We spiraled toward the ground, Grover was trying his best to slow down our fall.

We smashed into a photo-board, Grover's head went straight into the hole were tourists put their faces, pretending to be Noo-Noo the Friendly Whale. Percy and I tumbled to the ground. We were banged up, but we made it. Percy still had Ares's shield on his arm

Once Percy and I caught our breath, we helped Grover out of the photo-board, thanking him for saving our lives. I looked over to the Thrill Live of Love. The water was subsiding, our boat had been smashed to pieces and was now piled up against the gate. A hundred yards away, the Cupids were still filming us. The statues had swiveled so that the cameras were on us, the spotlights in our faces.

"Show's over! Thank you! Good night!" Percy yelled.

The Cupids turned back to their original positions. The lights shut off. The park went deathly quiet again, the only sound was the trickling of water into the exit pool at the Thrill Ride of Love. I was furious. We'd been tricked by Ares and made to look like fools by Hephaestus, I could tell Percy was pretty miffed too.

"We need to have a little talk with Ares."

* * *

_hey everyone. thank you for reading and reviewing. i probably won't be posting another chapter for a week or so. i'm really busy with school and i just had to put my dog to sleep. i'm having a rough time and need to get out of the house more. so i apologize in advance, but I promise to finish this._

_thanks, all3_

_-xox kirstie_


	13. Chapter 12 (We Take A Zebra To Vegas)

**Chapter 12 (We Take A Zebra To Vegas)**  
_sidenote: I typed up this whole chapter, and it didn't save :o so sorry if it's not as good :'(_

The war god was waiting for us in the diner's parking lot.

"Well, well," he said. "You didn't get yourself killed."

"You knew it was a trap." Percy said.

Ares gave him a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

I bristled at the comment _stupid kids_, and Percy didn't seem to pleased either. He shoved Ares's shield at him. "You're a jerk."

I held my breath, Percy really needed to watch his mouth around gods, especially _this_ god. Ares grabbed his shield and spun it in the air. It changed forms, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back.

"See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."

The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which I could read because it was reverse-printed, white on black, a good combination for dyslexics: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMAN ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.

Percy said exactly what I was thinking, "You're kidding."

Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job."

He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Percy. We peeked inside. There were fresh clothes for all of us, twenty dollars, a punch full of drachmas, and a bag of Double Stuf Oreos.

Percy said, "I don't want your lousy-"

"Thank you, Lord Ares." Grover interrupted, giving Percy a warning glare. "Thanks a lot."

Percy gritted his teeth, and held in whatever insult he was going to throw back at Ares. "You owe me one more thing," he told Ares. "You promised me information about my mother."

"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started his motorcycle. "She's not dead."

Percy looked dazed. "What do you mean?"

"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."

"Kept. Why?"

"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."

"Nobody's controlling me." Percy insisted.

Ares laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."

Percy balled up his fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

I held my breath, Percy was really asking for it now. He really didn't know when to stop talking. Behind Ares's sunglasses, fire glowed. Hot wind blew through our hair. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."

Ares revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.

"That was not smart, Percy." I said, I had to let him know.

"I don't care."

"You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god." I warned.

"Hey, guys," Grover cut me off. "I hate to interrupt, but..."

He pointed toward the diner. At the register, two guys in matching black coveralls, with white logos on their backs that matched the on KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck were checking out.

"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover said, "we need to hurry."

I didn't like the idea of sharing a ride with wild animals, but we didn't have any other options. We ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big rig, closing the doors behind us.

The first thing that hit me was the smell. It was like the world's dirtiest, biggest pan of kitty litter. The trailer was pitch black inside until Percy uncapped his sword. The blade cast a faint bronze light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals I'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion, and some kind of antelope.

Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips and the antelope and zebra each had a styrofoam tray of hamburger meat. The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum. The antelope had a silver birthday balloon tied to one of its horns that read OVER THE HILL!

The poor lion was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space that was way to small for him, panting heavily from the heat in the stuffy trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes, and his ribs showed through his fur.

"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. "Humane zoo transport?"

Grover was about ready to beat up the truckers, I would have helped him if the truck didn't roar to life, shaking the trailer so we were forced to either sit down or be knocked over.

We hundled in the corner on some feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell, the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly. I really wanted to break these poor animals out of their cages, but Percy had to go pointing out that it wouldn't do much good if the truck was moving.

Percy found a water jug and refilled their bowls, and he used his sword to drag the turnips to the zebra and antelope and then give the lion his hamburger meat. Grover calmed the antelope down enough for me to use my knife to cut off the balloon that was tied to his horn. I wanted to cut the gum out of the zebras mane, but we all decided it was too risky with the truck bouncing around. We told Grover to promise the animals we would help them more in the morning and we settled in for the night.

Grover curled up on a turnip sack; I opened up our bag of Oreos and nibbled on one, Percy looked like he was deep in thought. I was thinking about how it was only June fourteen, we still had until the twenty-first for the solstice. We could complete this quest in plenty of time. I really didn't know what to expect from this quest, the gods seemed to be playing with us. Even after the cameras shut down at Waterland, I still felt like we were being watched. Thinking about Waterland made me embarrassed, I should have been more help to Percy. I basically left him to do all the work while I was too busy cowering in fear.

"Hey," I said, breaking the silence. "I'm sorry for freaking out back at the water park, Percy."

"That's okay."

"It's just... spiders." I shuddered involuntarily.

"Because of the Arachne story. She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest, right?"

I nodded. "Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things. Anyway, I owe you."

"We're a team, remember?" Percy said, instantly making me feel a little better. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying."

I thought Grover was asleep, but he mumbled from his corner, "I was pretty amazing."

Percy and I laughed. I pulled apart my Oreo and handed half to Percy. "In the Iris message... did Luke really say nothing?"

I didn't realize it was bothering me so much until we got into the truck, when I was thinking back over our quest so far. Something about Percy and Luke's conversation made me nervous. Percy just chewed his cookie, like he was trying to think of the best way to answer my question.

"Luke said you and he go way back. He also sad Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree." Percy said, finally.

I made a face, and Grover let out a mournful bray.

"I should've told you the truth from the beginning." His voice trembled, but he continued, "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along."

"You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, daughter of Zeus." Percy put two-and-two together.

Grover just nodded glumly.

Percy continued, "And the other two half-bloods Thalia befriended, the ones who got safely to camp..." he look at me. "That was you and Luke, wasn't it?"

I put down my Oreo, uneaten. "Like you said, Percy, a seven-year-old half-blood wouldn't have made it very far alone. Athena guided me toward help. Thalia was twelve. Luke was fourteen. They'd both run away from home, like me. They were happy to take me with them. They were...amazing monster- fighters, even without training. We traveled north from Virginia without any real plans, fending off monsters for about two weeks before Grover found us."

"I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," Grover said, snuffling. "Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything to slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth by themselves. I thought... I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a little quicker..."

"Stop it," I cut him off. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you either."

"She sacrificed herself to save us," he said miserably. "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."

"Because you wouldn't leave two other half-bloods behind?" Percy said. "That's not fair."

"Percy's right." I said. "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you, Grover. Neither would Luke. We don't care what the council says."

Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy."

"You're not lame," I insisted. "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. Name one other who would dare to go to the Underworld. I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now."

I kicked Percy in the shin.

"Yeah," he said. "It's not luck you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."

I heard a deep, satisfied sign. I waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing was heavy and even and turned to snoring.

"How does he do that?" Percy marveled.

"I don't know." I said. "But that was a really nice thing you told him."

"I meant it."

We rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. I was rubbing my necklace, thinking back to my time with Thalia and Luke. They were my family when I didn't have one. They were the only reason, them and Grover, that I was here today. I meant everything I said to Grover.

"That pine tree bead. Is that from your first year?" Percy asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. Every August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's beads. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress- now _that_ was a weird summer..."

"And the college ring is your father's?" I immediately put my guard up, defensive.

"That's none of your-" I stopped myself, it wasn't Percy's fault. "Yeah. Yeah, it is."

"You don't have to tell me."

"No... it's okay." I took a shaky breath, maybe talking about it would make me feel better. "My dad send it to me folded up in a letter, two summers ago. The ring was, like, his main keepsake from Athena. He wouldn't have made it through his doctoral program at Harvard without her... That's a long story. Anyway, he said he wanted me to have it. He apologized for being a jerk, said he loved me and missed me. He wanted me to come home and live with him."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"Yeah, well... the problem was, I believe him." I couldn't keep the bitterness out of my voice. "I tried to go home for the school year, but my stepmom was the same as ever. She didn't want her kids put in danger by living with a freak. Monsters attacked. We argue. Monsters attacked. We argued. I didn't even make it through winter break. I called Chiron and came right back to Camp Half-Blood."

"You think you'll ever try living with your dad again?"

I couldn't bring myself to meet Percy's eyes, I huffed. "Please. I'm not into self-inflicted pain."

"You shouldn't give up," he told me. "You should write him a letter or something."

I found myself getting mad at Percy again, just when we were making progress. He was only trying to help, but I couldn't help but hear it as condescending. "Thanks for the advice, but my father's made his choice about who he wants to live with." I said coldly.

After that we drove a few more miles in silence, but Percy being Percy had to break the silence with a question. "So if the gods fight, will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon?"

I leaned my head against the backpack and closed my eyes. "I don't know what my mom will do. I just know I'll fight next to you."

"Why?"

"Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?"

i know know what made me say it, but I was glad I did. I thought back over our quest, trying to figure out when exactly I started to consider Percy a friend. I couldn't pinpoint an exact moment, I just knew it was true. I was glad I finally said it. Percy could be arrogant and annoying, but he was a good guy. I fell asleep thinking about Percy and our quest so far, thinking about when we held hands in the Tunnel of Love...

I woke with a start. Something was off, I realized that the truck had stopped. Grover was already awake and talking to the animals. I told him to wake Percy.

Grover went over and started shaking him, "The truck's stopped. We think they're coming to check on the animals."

"Hide!" I hissed. I put on my Yankees cap, becoming invisible, Percy and Grover ducked behind feed sacks. The trailer doors creaked open, momentarily blinding me with sunlight.

"Man!" one of the truckers said, waving a hand in front of his face. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed into and poured some water from the jug into the animals' dishes.

"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then he splashed the rest of the water right in the poor lion's face. It roared in indignation.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." the man said. I caught a glimpse of Percy holding back Grover, who had a murderous look on his face.

The trucker then threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of _you_ this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"

The zebra went wild-eyed with fear, and looked straight at Percy. I took this as my opprotunity. This trucker was making me sick, picking on the animals. I snuck past him and hopped down off the truck and walked to the outside. I knocked three times as loud as I could on the side of the trailer, trying to get the truckers attention.

It worked, the trucker inside yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?"

A voice from the driver's cab "Maurice? What'd ya say?"

"What are you banging for?"

I stiffed a laugh and knocked three more times on the trailer. The voice from the driver's cab yelled, "What banging?"

I heard the guy from inside the trailer walk and jump down from the truck, cursing about Eddie. I walked past him and jumped back in the truck, walking over to where Percy and Grover were hiding.

I took off my cap and said, "This transport business can't be legal."

"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers! We've got to free them!" Both Grover and I looked toPercy, waiting for his lead. We heard Eddie and Maurice yelling at each other outside the truck. Percy took the cue and whipped out his sword. He slashed the lock from the zebra's cage.

The zebra turned towards Percy, looking him in the eyes, and bowed. I was a little shocked and I was about to say something, but Grover put up his hands and started saying something to the zebra in a series of bleats. It sounded like a blessing of some sort.

Just as Maurice was poking his head to check on the animals, the zebra leapt over him and into the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. We rushed to the doors to get a look at the zebra galloping down the boulevard lined with hotels, casinos and neon signs. We'd just released a zebra in Las Vegas.

Maurice and Eddie ran after it, followed by police officers who were yelling, "Hey! you need a permit for that!"

"Now would be a good time to leave" I suggested.

"The other animals first," Grover said.

Percy cut the locks on the other two cages, Grover said the same blessing to the antelope and the lion.

"Good luck," Percy told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together into the streets. Some tourists scaremed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was a stunt by one of the casinos.

"Will the animals be okay?" Percy asked what I was thinking. "I mean, the desert and all-"

"Don't worry." Grover said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," Grover explained. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."

"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" Percy asked.

"It only works on animals."

"So it would only affect Percy," I reasoned, smiling.

"Hey!" he protested.

"Kidding," I said. "Come on. Let's get out of this filthy truck."

We stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was a hundred and ten degrees, easy. The three of us must have looked like kids that were up to no good, wandering the streets of Vegas. We passed by the Monte Carlo and the MGM. We passed pyramids, a pirate ship and the Statue of Liberty, which was a pretty small, but nicely made replica.

I wasn't exactly sure what it was that we were looking for. Maybe just a place to get out of the heat for a few minutes, find something to eat and drink and make a new plan for getting west.

We must have taken a wrong turn, because we found ourselves at a dead end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino. The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petals lightning up and blinking. No one was going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out sweet smelling air conditioning. Lotus blossoms it smelled like.

The doorman smiled at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

I was suspicious at first, but the guy looked pretty normal. But, we really need to get out of the heat, so we nodded. We all took a look around, Grover said, "Whoa."

The whole lobby was a giant game room. It wasn't just slot machines. There was an indoor waterslide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of the building, an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine.

"Hey!" a bellhop said. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts, and flip-flops. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

I was so shocked, I couldn't speak. Percy managed to stammer, "Um, but..."

"No, no," he said laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides.

He handed us each a green plastic credit card. There had to be some mistake. He had to be thinking of three other kids, but we all took the cards, and Percy asked, "How much is on here?"

The bellhop's eyebrows knit together. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when does it run out of cash?"

He laughed. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."

I think it was the weirdest conversation I ever witness, and Percy was even more confused than usual. But, we took the elevator upstairs and checked out our room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas, and chips. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and water beads with feather pillows. A big screen TV with satellite and high-speed Internet. The balcony had its own hot tub, and there was a skeet-shooting manage with a shotgun.

"Oh, goodness," I said. "This place is..."

"Sweet." Grover said, finishing my thought. "Absolutely sweet."

There were clothes in the closet and they fit me perfectly. I thought it was a little strange but forgot about it quick enough. I got a hot shower and it felt amazing. After a week of travel and no shower, especially after the zoo animal truck, I was in desperate need of a long, hot shower. After my shower I went into the main room, Grover was already there, and I turned on the National Geographic Channel.

"All these stations," said Percy from behind me, "and you turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"

"It's interesting."

"I feel good," Grover said. "I love this place."

"So what now?" I asked, "sleep?"

Grover and Percy looked at each other and grinned. They both held up their green plastic cards, "Play time."

I went right to the trivia games, playing for what simultaneously seemed like hours and minutes. I was killing the competition. Then I found a sim game where you would create your own city. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. All the buildings were holographic and interactive. I was in the middle of building a temple to Athena in my city when someone started shaking me, "Annabeth?"

I looked up, annoyed. "What?"

"We need to leave." Percy said, looking as annoyed as I felt.

"Leave? What are you talking about? I jut got the towers-"

"This place is a trap." he said cutting me off.

I must have zoned out because Percy shook me again. "What?"

"Listen. The Underworld. Our quest!"

"Oh, come on, Percy. Just a few more minutes."

"Annabeth, there are people here from 1977. Kids who have never aged. You check in, and you stay forever."

"So?" I asked, all I cared about was finishing my temple. "Can you imagine a better place?"

Percy grabbed my wrists and yanked me away from the game.

"Hey!" I screamed and hit him. I didn't like being grabbed. He made me look directly into his eyes. He said, "Spiders. Large, hairy spiders."

I felt jarred, my vision cleared. I didn't know what happened, but I remembered where we were, "Oh my gods. How long have we-"

"I don't know, but we've got to find Grover."

We went searching, and found him playing a Virtual Deer Hunter.

"Grover!" we shouted.

He said: "Die, human! Die, silly, polluting nasty person!"

He turned the plastic gun on Percy and started clicking, as if he were part of the game. Percy just looked and me, and together we grabbed Grover by the arms and dragged him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! No!"

The Lotus bellhop hurried up to us. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?"

"We're leaving," Percy told him.

"Such a shame," he said, and I got the feeling that he really meant it. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members.:

He held out the cards, and I wanted one. I could tell Percy was struggling with himself too. Grover actually reached for the card, but I yanked him back and said, "No, thanks."

We walked toward the door, and as we did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. I thought about our room upstairs, the hot shower, the soft, comfy bed...

Then we burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day we'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed, it was stormy with heat lightning flashing out in the desert.

I looked over to Percy, confused. Ares's backpack was slung over his shoulder, which was odd, since he'd thrown it out up in our room. Percy ran over to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year that we went in, but my heart dropped as I noticed the date: June twentieth.

We had been in the Lotus Casino for five days.

We had only one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete our quest.


	14. Chapter 13 (We Shop For Water Beds)

**Chapter 13 (We Shop For Water Beds)**

It was all my idea.

I loaded us into the back of a Vegas taxi, acting like we had all the money in the world and told the driver, "Los Angeles, please."

The cabbie chewed his cigar and sized us up. "That's three hundred miles. For that, you gotta pay up front."

"You accept casino debit cards?" I asked.

The cabbie shrugged. "Some of 'em. Same as credit cars. I gotta swipe 'em through first."

I handed him my green LotusCash card. The cabbie looked at it skeptically.

"Swipe it." I told him.

He did.

His meter machine started rattling. The lights flashed. Finally an infinity symbol came up next to the dollar sign.

The cigar fell out of the driver's mouth. He looked back at us, his eyes wide. "Where to in Los Angeles...uh, Your Highness?"

"The Santa Monica Pier," I said a little smugly, enjoying he 'Your Highness' comment. "Get us there fast, and you can keep the change."

My plan was great, but I don't think I should have told him that. The cab's speedometer never dipped below ninety-five the whole way through the Mojave Desert.

On the road, we had plenty of time to talk. Percy opened up to Grover and me about his latest dream, but he seemed to forget some of the details. The Lotus Casino seemed to have short-cirtcued his memory, mine too come to think of it, but I would never admit it. Percy couldn't tell us what the invisible servant's voice sounded like, but he was adamant it was someone he knew. He said that the servant called the monster in the pit something other than "my lord"... another special name or title...

"The Silent One?" I suggested after thinking on it for a couple minutes. "The Rich One? Both of those are nicknames for Hades."

"Maybe..." Percy said, but he didn't sound too convinced.

"That throne room sounds like Hades's," Grover said. "That's the way it's usually described."

Percy shook his head. "Something's wrong. The throne room wasn't the main part of the dream. And that voice from the pit... I don't know. It just didn't feel like a god's voice."

My stomach dropped, and I had a thought about who it could be that Percy was talking about.

"What?" Percy demanding.

"Oh.. nothing. I was just- No, it _has_ to be Hades. Maybe he sent this thief, this invisible person, to get the master bolt, and something went wrong-"

"Like what?"

"I- I don't know," I said. "But if he stole Zeus's symbol of power from Olympus, and the gods were hunting him, I mean, a lot of things could go wrong. So this thief had to hide the bolt, or he lost it somehow. Anyway, he failed to bring it to Hades. That's what the voices said in your dream, right? The guy failed. That would explain what the Furies were searching for when they came after us on the bus. Maybe they thought we had retrieved the bolt."

I felt really sick. If I was right, it wasn't good.

"But if I'd already retrieved the bolt," Percy said, "why would I be traveling to the Underworld."

"To threaten Hades," Grover suggested. "To bribe or blackmail him into getting your mom back."

Percy whistled. "You have evil thoughts for a goat."

"Why, thank you."

I was trying to clear my head, but I was trying my best to focus on what Percy and Grover were saying, there had to be another explanation.

"But the thing in the pit said it was waiting for _two _items," Percy said. "If the master bolt is one, what's the other?"

Grover shook his head, clearly mystified.

I couldn't help looking at Percy, I had a feeling what he was going to ask, but I was hoping he wasn't going to ask it.

"You have an idea what might be in that pit, don't you?" he asked me. "I mean, if it isn't Hades?"

I really didn't want to tell him, that I thought it was Kronos. It was just too much to handle. "Percy... let's not talk about it. Because if it isn't Hades...No. It has to be Hades."

Wasteland rolled by. We passed a sign that said CALIFORNIA STATE LINE, 12 MILES.

I couldn't stop thinking about Percy's dream. It was really bothering me and I was trying not to let it show. We were heading to the Underworld to confront the Lord of the Dead, I couldn't be having doubts now, it was too late in the quest. I just had to keep my mind on the task at hand and not be worrying about the what-ifs. We would make it by the solstice deadline to Olympus, master bolt in hand. We just had to believe in the quest and that everything would work out. War couldn't happen, we wouldn't let it.

"The answer is in the Underworld," I assured Percy. "You saw spirits of the dead, Percy. There's only one place that could be. We're doing the right thing."

I tried to keep the morale up, suggesting strategies for getting into the Underworld. Keeping my mind busy, but I could tell Percy was distracted and worried.

The cab sped west. Every gust of wind through Death Valley sounded like a spirit of the dead, wailing. Every time the brakes hissed on an eighteen-wheeler, shivers went down my spine.

At sunset, the taxi dropped us at the beach in Santa Monica. It was beautiful, just like you see in the movies, but the smell ruined it. There were carnival rides lining the Pier, palm trees lining the sidewalks, homeless people sleeping in the sand dunes, and surfers waiting for the perfect wave.

Percy, Grover, and I walked down to the edge of the surf.

"What now?" I asked.

The Pacific was turning gold in the setting sun. It reminded me a little of the Long Island Sound at sunset, making me a little homesick for Camp. Percy stepped into the surf.

"Percy? What are you doing?" I questioned.

He ignored me, and just kept walking, he was up to his waist, then his chest. I called after him, "You know how polluted that water is? There're all kinds of toxic-"

I stopped talking when his head went under, letting out an exasperated sigh. Percy was really hard-headed, but he was determined, I had to give him that.

Grover and I looked at each other and shrugged. "Well, I guess we can just sit and wait." Grover suggested.

So we sat and waited for what seemed like forever, especially with the deadline hanging over our heads. I sat thinking about my Father, and my life before Camp when finally, Percy's head broke the surface, as soon as he walked onto the beach, his clothes dried. I was impressed.

Percy told us what happened and showed us the pearls that the Naiad had given him. I was skeptical, grimacing I said, "No gift comes without a price."

"They were free."

"No." I shook my head. "'There is no such thing as a free lunch.' That's an ancient Greek saying that translated pretty well into American. There will be a price. You wait."

We turned our backs to the sea and took a bus into West Hollywood. Percy showed the driver the Underworld address slip he'd taken from Aunty Em's, but he said that he'd never heard of DOA Recording Studios.

"You remind me of somebody I saw on TV," the driver told Percy. "You a child actor or something?"

"Uh... I'm a stunt double... for a lot of child actors."

"Oh! That explains it!"

_Good one, Percy,_ I thought.

We wandered for miles on foot, looking for DOA. Nobody seemed to know where it was. It wasn't even in the phone book. Twice, we ducked into alleys to avoid police cars.

We were walking and Percy froze in front of an appliance-store window. I was about to ask him what the hold up was, when I noticed who was on the TV. It was Percy's disgusting stepfather talking to Barbara Walters. She was interviewing him in what looked to be Percy's mom's apartment while Gabe and his friends were in the middle of a poker game. There was a young blonde lady sitting next to him, patting his hand. It was gross.

A fake tear glistened on his cheek. He was saying, "Honest, Ms. Walters, if it wasn't for Sugar here, my grief counselor, I'd be a wreck. My stepson took everything I cared about. My wife... my Camero... I-I'm sorry. I have trouble talking about it."

"There you have it, America." Barbara Walters turned to camera. "A man torn apart. An adolescent boy with serious issues. Let me show you again, the last known photo of this trouble young fugitive, taken a week ago in Denver."

The screen cut to a grainy shot of Percy, Grover, and I standing outside the Colorado diner, talking to Ares.

"Who are the other children in this photo?" Barbara Walters asked dramatically. "Who is the man with them? Is Percy Jackson a delinquent, a terrorist, or perhaps the brainwashed victim of a frightening new cult? When we come back, we chat with a leading child pyschologist. Stay tuned, America."

"C'mon," Grover told Percy. He hauled Percy away before he could punch a hole in the window.

It got dark, and hungry-looking characters started coming out on the streets to play. I don't scare easy, I've seen my fair share of monsters but this was different. We walked past gangbangers, bums, and street hawkers, who looked at us like they were trying to figure out if we were worth mugging.

As we hurried passed the entrance of an alley, a voice from the darkness said, "Hey, you."

Like an idiot, Percy stopped. We were surrounded in a split-second. A gang of kids circled us, six of them- kids with expensive clothes and mean faces. They were rich brats trying to play their hand at being bad boys.

Percy uncapped Riptide. When the sword appeared, the kids backed off, but the leader was either really stupid or really brave because he kept walking towards Percy, switchblade out.

Percy made the mistake of swinging. The kid yelped, but he was mortal, because the blade passed right through him. He looked down, "What the...?"

We had about three seconds before this kid retaliated, I was just about to yell when Percy beat me too it. "Run!"

We pushed two kids out of the way and raced down the street, not knowing where we were going. We turned a sharp corner.

I saw an open storefront, "There!" I shouted.

It was the only store on the block that looked even remotely open. The sign above the door said something like CRSTUY'S WATRE BDE ALPACE.

"Crusty's Water Bed Palace?" Grover translated, sounded confused.

We burst through the doors, ran behind a water bed, and ducked. A split second later, the gang of kids ran past the door.

"I think we lost them," Grover panted.

A voice behind us boomed, "Lost who?"

We all jumped.

Standing behind us was a guy who looked like a raptor in a leisure suit. He was at least seven feet tall, with no hair. He had gray, leathery skin, thick-lidded reptilian eyes and a cold smile. He moved towards us slowly, but it looked like he was holding back.

He had a cheesy seventies suit with a silk paisley shirt. "I'm Crusty," he said with a yellow smile.

I forced myself to smile.

"Sorry to barge in," Percy said. "We were, um, browsing."

"You mean hiding from those no-good kids," Crusty grumbled, catching Percy's lie. "They hang around every night. I get a lot of people in here, thanks to them. Say, you want to look at a water bed."

Percy looked like he wanted to say no, but Crusty put a huge hand on his shoulder and steered him deeper into the showroom.

There was every kid of water bed, with different kinds of wood, different sheets, and different bed sizes.

"This is my most popular model." Crusty spread his hands proudly over a bed covered with black satin sheets, with built-in Lava Lamps on the headboard. The mattress vibrated, so it looked like Jello-O.

"Million-hand massage," Crusty told us. "Go on, try it out. Shoot, take a nap. I don't care. No business today, anyway."

"Um," Percy stammered. "I don't think..."

"Million-hand massage!" Grover cried and dove in. "Oh, you guys! This is cool."

"Hmm," Crusty said, stroking his leathery chin. "Almost, almost."

"Almost what?" Percy questioned.

Crusty didn't answer him, instead he looked directly at me. "Do me a favor and try this one over here, honey. Might fit.

I said, "But what-"

He didn't let me finish, he patted my shoulder reassuringly on the shoulder and led me over to the Safari water bed with teakwood lions carved into the frame and a leopard-patterened. comforter. I didn't want to lie down, but Crusty pushed me.

"Hey!" I shouted, indignantly.

Crusty snapped his fingers, "_Ergo_!"

Before I could get up, ropes sprang form the sides of the bed, lashing around me, holding me down to the mattress.

I looked over, struggling, to Grover who was trying to get up. But ropes sprang from his black-satin bed, and lashed him down.

"N-not c-c-ool!" he yelled, his voice vibrating from the million-hand massage. "N-not c-cool a-at all!"

The giant looked at me then turned toward Percy, "Almost, darn it."

Percy tried to step away from Crusty, but his hand shot out and clamped around the back of his neck. "Whoa, kid. Don't worry. We'll find you one in a sec."

"Let my friends go."

"Oh, sure I will. But I got to make them fit, first."

"What do you mean?"

I was listening to their conversation while struggling with the ropes, if I could just get out my knife...

"All the beds are exactly six feet, see? Your friends are too short. Got to make them fit."

I kept on struggling, and I could see Grover doing the same out of the corner of my eye.

"Can't stand imperfect measurements," I thought I heard Crusty mutter. "_Ergo_!"

A new set of ropes leaped out from the top and bottom of my bed, wrapping around my ankles, and around my armpits. The ropes started to tighten, pulling me from both ends. I never had been in so much pain before in my life, I felt like I was going to pass out.

I heard Grover yelling for Percy. Percy seemed like he was trying to think of a plan, but he was coming up a bit short. I could see him and Crusty talking, but I was in too much pain to hear. While I was being stretched to death, and Percy was making small-talk with a creepy salesman.

"Percy! What are you doing?" I yelled at him.

I must have blacked-out for a minute because when I looked over to Percy, he had Crusty on his water bed. I heard Percy yell, "_Ergo_!"

I saw him uncap his sword, and that's when I looked away, the last thing I heard was Crusty yelling out offers before he went silent.

Percy ran over to my bed and cut the ropes, and did the same for Grover. I got to my feet, wincing, cursing at Percy under my breath.

"You look taller," Percy said.

"Very funny, be faster next time." I snapped.

Percy looked over to a bulletin board behind Crusty's desk. I turned and looked, DOA's address was right underneath an advertisement for the recording studio.

"Come on," Percy told us.

"Give us a minute," Grover complained. "We were almost stretched to death!"

I couldn't agree more.

"Then you're ready for the Underworld," Percy said. "It's only a block from here."


	15. Chapter 14 (We Find Out The Truth)

**Chapter 14 (We Find Out The Truth, Sort Of)**

Imagine the largest concert crowd you've ever seen, a football field packed with a million fans.

Now imagine a field a million times that size, packed with people, and image the electricity has gone out, and there is no noise, no light. Something tragic has happened backstage. Whispering masses of people are just milling around in the shadows, waiting for a concert that will never start.

If you can imagine that, you have a pretty good idea what the Fields of Asphodel are like. The black grass had been trampled by eons of dead feat. A warm, moist wind blows across your face. Black trees grew in clumps here and there.

The cavern ceiling was so high above us it might've been a bank of storm clouds, except for the stalactites that glowed a faint grey. I couldn't help but imagining them impaling us, just like they impaled the ground at intervals all around us.

Percy, Grover and I tried to blend into the crowd of the dead, while keeping an eye out for the security ghouls. I kept trying to get a look at some of the faces, but the spirits of Asphodel were hard to look at. Their faces shimmer in and out of focus, looking either angry or confused. A few came up and tried to speak to us, but their voices sounded like the twitter of bats. Once they realized we didn't understand them, they frowned and shuffled away.

The dead aren't scary. They're just sad.

We crept along, following the line of new arrivals that snaked from the main gates toward a black-tented pavilion with a banner that looked like it read:

JUDGMENTS FOR ELYSIUM AND

ETERNAL DAMNATION

Welcome, Newly Deceased!

From the pavilion, two lines exited into smaller lines.

To the left, spirits were flanked by security ghouls were marched down a rocky path toward the Fields of Punishment, which glowed and smoked in the distance, a vast wasteland with rivers of lava and minefields. Miles of barbed wire separating the different torture areas. Even from this far away, I could see people being chased by hellhounds, burned at the stake, forced to run naked through cactus patches or listen to some kind of horrible music. I could just make out a tiny hill, with the ant-sized Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder to the top. There were other tortures that are just too horrible to describe.

The line coming from the right side of the judgement pavilion was much better. This line lead down toward a small valley surrounded by walls- a gated community. It looked like the only spot of happiness and light in the desperate and dark Underworld. Beyond the security gate there were neighborhoods of beautiful houses from every time period. Architecture ranged from Roman villas to medieval castles and Victorian mansions. Silver and gold flowers bloomed on front lawns, the grass rippled in rainbow colors. I could hear the faint noises of laughter and smell a barbecue cooking.

I sighed to myself. Elysium.

In the middle of the valley was a glittering blue lake, with three small islands that looked like a vacation resort from a tropical island. The Isles of the Blest for the people who had chosen to be reborn three times, and three times achieved Elysium. I knew that I wanted to end up here when I died.

"That's what it's all about." I said. "That's the place for heroes."

Percy looked like he was thinking hard about The Isles. I was thinking about how few people there were on The Isles and in Elysium and the amount of people that were wandering the Fields of Asphodel forever. So few people did good with their lives, it was sad.

We left the judgement pavilion and moved deeper into the Asphodel Fields. I still couldn't stop thinking about how much I wanted to do good in my life and end up on The Isles. It got darker and the colors faded from our crowds. The crowds of chattering spirits around us began to thin.

After a few more miles of walking, we began to hear a familiar screech in the distance. Looming on the horizon was a palace of glittering black obsidian. It was an architectural marvel, but it was depressing. Above the parapets swirled three dark bat-like creatures: the Furies. It seemed like they were waiting just for us. I tried to keep myself from shaking.

"I suppose it's too late to turn back," Grover said wistfully.

"We'll be okay." Percy said trying to sound confident.

"Maybe we should search some of the other places first," Grover suggested. "Like, Elysium, for instance..."

I huffed. "Come on, goat boy." As I grabbed Grover's arm he yelped. His sneakers sprouted wings and his legs shot forward, puling him away from me. He landed flat on his back in the grass.

"Grover," I chided. "Stop messing around."

"But I didn't-"

He yelped again. His sneakers were flapping like crazy. They levitated off the ground and started dragging him away from us.

"_Maia_!"he yelled, but the magic word didn't seem to have any effect. "_Maia, _already! Nine-one-one! Help!"

Percy made a wild grab for Grover's hand, but too late. Grover was picking up speed, skidding downhill like a bobsled.

We ran after him.

I tried to think on the run, "Untie the shoes!"

Grover tried his best to untie the laces, but it must have been hard when they were pulling him at full speed. Percy and I kept after him, trying to keep him in sight as he bobbed between the legs of spirits who chattered in annoyance.

It looked like Grover was going to crash straight through the gates of Hades's palace, but at the last second his sneakers veered sharply to the right and dragged him in the opposite direction.

The slop got steeper. Grover picked up speed. Percy and I had to sprint to keep up. The cavern walls started to narrow on either side. We had entered some kind of tunnel. There was no black grass or trees, just rocks and the dim light of the stalactites.

"Grover!" Percy yelled, his voice echoing. "Hold on to something!"

"What?" he yelled back.

He was grabbing at gravel but he couldn't get a hold of anything big enough to slow him down. The tunnel was getting darker and colder. My hair stood on end, it smelled evil down here. I started to think of things I shouldn't know about- blood spilling on an ancient stone altar, the rancid breath of a murderer.

Percy stopped suddenly, as soon as he caught a glimpse of the tunnel widening into a huge cavern, going down into a chasm, just like in the dream he described. I didn't slow down because Grover was sliding straight toward the edge.

"Come on, Percy!" I yelled, tugging at his wrist.

"But that's-"

"I know!" I shouted. "The place you described in your dream! But Grover's going to fall if we don't catch him."

That seemed to spur Percy into action and he followed. Grover was yelling again, clawing at the ground, but the winged shoes kept dragging him toward the pit, and it didn't look like we were going to make it to him in time.

What saved him were his hooves. The flying sneakers were always a bit loose and when Grover hit a big rock, the left shoe came flying off. It sped into the darkness and down into the chasm. The right shoe kept on tugging him along, but not as fast. Grover was able to slow himself down by grabbing on to the big rock and using it like an anchor.

He was about ten feet from the edge of the pit when we caught up to him and hauled him back up the slope. The other winged shoe tugged itself off, circled us, kicking at our heads, and then sped off into the chasm to join its twin.

We all collapsed, exhausted, on the obsidian gravel. My legs felt like lead. Percy was struggling with his backpack like it was heavier.

Grover was pretty badly scratched up. His hands were bleeding and his eyes had gone slit-pupiled.

"I don't know how... " he panted. "I didn't..."

"Wait," Percy interrupted him. "Listen."

I tried to listen, but didn't hear anything. "Percy, this place-"

"Shh." he stood. He seemed intent on finding the source of the sound. Grover finally asked what I was thinking, "Wh-what's the noise?"

That's when I heard it. It was a deep, angry whisper coming from the darkness. Slowly getting louder and louder. Suddenly, I knew what it was. "Tartarus. The entrance to Tartarus."

I swallowed, trying not to panic. Percy uncapped Anaklusmos.

The bronze sword expanded, gleaming in the darkness, and the voice seemed to falter for a moment, but then it started muttering again.

The muttering slowly started to sound like chanting, and I could almost make it out. It sounded like a language older than Greek, and I knew it was time to get out of there before something horrific happened.

"Magic." Percy said.

"We have to get out of here," I said.

Together, Percy and I dragged Grover to his hooves and started back up the tunnel. Percy wasn't moving fast enough, like his legs weren't working and his backpack was slowing him down. The voice was getting louder and angrier behind us. We broke into a run. And not a moment too soon.

A cold blast of wind pulled at our backs, almost like the pit was inhaling. For a moment, I lost my footing and I felt like I was being pulled back. Percy seemed to falter, too. We struggled forward, moving as fast as we could. Finally we reached the top of the tunnel, where the cavern widened out into the Fields of Asphodel. The wind died. A wail of outrage echoed from deep within the tunnel. Something was not happy that we had gotten away.

"What _was_ that?" Grover panted, when we'd collapsed in the relative safety of a black poplar grove. "One of Hades's pets?"

Percy and I looked at each other, I could tell Percy knew what I was thinking, but neither of us wanted to say it out loud.

Percy capped his sword, and put the pen back into his pocket. "Let's keep going. Can you walk?"

Grover swallowed. "Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway."

He tried to sound brave about it, but he was trembling just as bad as Percy and I were. Whatever was in that pit was nobody's pet. It was unspeakably old and powerful. I was relieved to turn my back on the tunnel and head toward the palace of Hades. Almost.

The Furies were still circling the parapets, high up in the gloom. The outer walls of the fortress glittered black, and the two-story-tall bronze gates stood wide open.

There were carvings etched into the gates. They were all scenes of death. I shuddered. Some were from modern times- an atomic bomb exploding over a city and some were more ancient. But they all looked like they had been craved thousands of years ago.

Past the gates and inside the courtyard was the strangest garden I'd ever seen. Multicolored mushrooms, poisonous shrubs, and weird luminous plants grew without sunlight. Precious jewels made up for the lack of flowers, piles of rubies as big as a fist, clumps of raw diamnds. Spread out through the garden were Medusa's garden statues- petrified children, satyrs, and centaurs- all smiling grotesquely.

In the center of the garden was an orchard of pomegranate trees, their orange blooms neon bright in the dark. "The garden of Persephone. Keep walking." I warned.

The tart smell of the pomegranates was almost overwhelming, I had to fight the sudden desire to eat them. I knew the story of Persephone too well. One bite of Underworld food and we would never be able to leave. Percy pulled Grover away, he had a look like he wanted to pluck a fruit from the tree.

We walked up the steps of the palace, between black columns, through a black marble portico, and into the house of Hades. The entry hall had a polished bronze floor, which looked like in was boiling in the reflected torchlight. There was no ceiling, just the cavern roof, far above.

Every side doorway was guarded by a skeleton in military gear. Some wore Greek armor, some British redcoat uniforms, some camouflage with tattered American flags on the shoulders. They carried spears or muskets or M-16s. They didn't bother us, but their hollow eye sockets followed our movement as we walked down the hall, toward the bug set of doors at the opposite end.

Two U.S. Marine skeletons guarded the doors. They grinned down at us, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.

"You know," Grover mumbled. "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen."

Percy was still fidgeting with his backpack.

"Well, guys. I suppose we should... knock?" he said.

A hot wind blew down the corridor, and the doors swung open, the guards stepped aside.

"I guess that means _entrez-vous." _I said.

The room inside was dark, and on the throne, sat Hades. He was at least ten feet tall, dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin was albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He radiated power. He lounged on his throne of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful and dangerous as a panther.

Hade's aura made me feel like he should be the one giving orders and he should be my master. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, just then the Lord of the Dead spoke. "You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon. After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish." he said in an oily voice.

Percy looked like he wanted to throw up, but he steeled himself and stepped forward. "Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests."

Hades raised his eyebrow and I sucked in my breath. He sat forward in his throne and when he did, shadowy faces appeared in the folds of his black robe, faces of torment.

"Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."

Percy swallowed, glancing at the empty throne next to Hades's, a black flower, gilded in gold. Percy was still staring at the throne, I cleared my throat, prodding him in the back.

"Lord Hades. Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be ... bad."

"Really bad." Grover added helpfully. I had to try really hard not to roll my eyes. Talking was neither Percy or Grover's strong suit. But, it was Percy's quest so I held my tongue.

"Return Zeus's master bolt to me. Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus." Percy said.

Hades eyes grew dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"

Percy glanced back at me, confused. Hades was confusing me, and I didn't know what to say, so I just shrugged.

"Um... Uncle. You keep saying 'after what you've done.' What exactly have I done?" Percy asked.

The throne room shook with a tremor so strong, they probably felt it in Los Angeles. Debris fell from the ceiling. Doors burst open all along the walls, and skeletal warriors marched in, hundreds of them, from every time period and nation in Western civilization. They lined the perimeter of the room, blocking the exits.

Hades bellowed, "Do you think I _want_ war, godling?

Percy carefully said, "You are the Lord of the Dead. A war would expand your kingdom, right?

"A typical thing for my brothers to say! Do you think I need more subjects. Did you not see the sprawl of the Asphodel Fields?"

"Well..."

"Have you any idea how much my kingdom has swollen in this past century alone, how many subdivisions I've had to open?"

Percy opened his mouth, but Hades continued.

"More security ghouls," he moaned. "Traffic problems at the judgement pavilion. Double overtime for the staff. I used to be a rich god, Percy Jackson. I control all the precious metals under the earth. But my expenses!"

"Charon wants a pay raise," Percy blurted out. I had to cover my mouth to stifle my gasp.

"Don't get me started on Charon! He's been impossible ever since he discovered Italian suits! Problems everywhere, and I've got to handle all of them personally. The commute time alone from the palace to the gates is enough to drive me insane! And the dead just keep arriving. _No, _godling. I need no help getting subjects! _I_ did not ask for his war."

"But you took Zeus's master bolt."

"Lies!" There was more rumbling. Hades rose from his throne. "Your father may fool Zeus, boy, but I am not so stupid. I see his plan."

"His plan?"

"_You_ were the thief on the winter solstice," Hades said. "Your father through you keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus. You took the master bolt _and_ my helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm back!"

"But..." I said, my mind going a million miles an hour. "Lord Hades, your helm of darkness is missing, too?"

"Do not play innocent with me, girl. You and the satyr have been helping this hero-coming here to threaten me in Poseidon's name, no doubt- to bring me an ultimatum. Does Poseidon think I can be blackmailed into supporting him?"

"No!" Percy said. "Poseidon didn't-I didn't-"

"I have said nothing of the helm's disappearance," Hades snarled, "because I had no illusions that anyone on Olympus would over me the slightest justice, the slightest help. I can ill afford for word to get out that my most powerful weapon of fear is missing. So I searched for you myself, and when it was clear you were coming to me to deliver your threat, I did not try to stop you."

"You didn't try to stop us? But-"

"Return my helm now, or I will stop death," Hades threatened. "That is my counterproposal. I will open the earth and have the dead pour back into the world. I will make your lands a nightmare. And you, Percy Jackson- _your_skeleton will lead my army out of Hades."

I couldn't believe what was happening. The Helm of Darkness was missing, and so was the master bolt. Someone was playing us all I just need time to figure out who it was. Unfortunately, time was a luxury we didn't have. The skeletal soldiers all took one step forward, readying their weapons. I was starting to get scared, but Percy looked angry.

"You're as bad as Zeus. You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?" Percy said, sounded affronted.

"Of course." said Hades.

"And the other monsters?"

Hades curled his lip. "I had nothing to do with them. I wanted no quick death fro you- I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?"

"Easily."

"Return my property!"

I just wanted Percy to stop talking, but he was looking angrier than I've ever seen him.

"I don't have your helm." he countered. "I came for the master bolt."

"Which you already possess!" Hades shouted. "You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could threaten me!"

"But I didn't!"

"Open your pack, then."

Percy looked like he was physically hit. He slung his backpack off his shoulder and unzipped it. Inside was a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spiked on both ends, humming with energy.

"Percy. How-"

"I-I don't know. I don't understand."

It all struck me at once, why ever since we got to the Underworld. Percy seemed to be struggling under the weight of the pack.

"You heroes are always the same. Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you could bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me, I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now... my helm. Where is it?"

Percy was speechless. Then, it hit me. We were being played with, Percy most of all. My heart sank. The backpack had the master bolt in it the whole time, but Percy hadn't had the backpack the whole quest.

"Lord Hades, wait. This is all a mistake." Percy said.

"A mistake?"

The skeletons aimed their weaponds. From high above, there was a fluttering of wings, the three Furies swooped down to perch on the back of Hades's throne.

"There is not mistake," Hades said. "I know why you have come- I know the _real_ reason you brought the bolt. You came to bargain for _her."_

Hades loosed a ball of gold fire from his palm. It exploded on the steps in front of Percy, and there was a woman, frozen in a shower of gold. And from Percy's expression and the way he reached out and tried to touch her, I knew it was his mother.

"Yes. I took her. I know, Percy Jackson, that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helm, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."

I thought about the pearls that Percy had gotten from the Naiad, and I could tell Percy was thinking about them too.

"Ah, the pearls." Hades said. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson."

Percy looked like he was a marionette having his strings yanked. He took the pearls out of his pocket and presented them to Hades.

"Only three," Hades said. "What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friends will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Chose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms."

Percy looked at Grover and I. His face was grim. "We were tricked. Set up." he told us.

"Yes, but why?" I asked. I still wasn't able to figure out why. "And the voice in the pit-"

"i don't know yet. But I intend to ask." Percy said.

"Decide, boy!" Hades yelled.

"Percy, you can't give him the bolt." Grover said, putting his hand on Percy's shoulder.

"I know that." he said.

"Leave me here. Use the third pearl on your mom." Grover said.

"No!"

"I'm a satyr. We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or soemthing. It's the best way."

"No." I said, drawing my knife. "You two go on. Grover, you have to protect Percy. You have to get your searcher's license and start your quest for Pan. Get his mom out of here. I'll cover you. I plan to go down fighting."

"No way." Grover countered. "I'm staying behind."

"Think again, goat boy." I said.

"Stop it, both of you!" Percy yelled, a pained look on his face. "I know what to do. Take these."

He handed us each a pearl.

"But, Percy..." I said.

He turned and faced his mother, pain etched clearly on his face. "I'm sorry. I'll be back. I'll find a way."

The smug lok on Hades's face vanished. He said, "Godling...?"

"I'll find your helm, Uncle. I'll return it. Remember about Charon's pay raise."

"Do not defy me-"

"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls."

"Percy Jackson, you will not-"

Percy shouted, "Now, guys!"

The army of skeletons rushed forward, weapons out. The Furies lunged, their whips bursting into flame. Just as the skeletons opened fire, the pearl at my feet exploded with a burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. I was encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground.

"Look up!" Grover yelled. "We're going to crash!"

We were racing right toward the stalactites, which looked like they were about to pop our bubbles. I started to panic, "How do you control these things?"

"I don't think you do!" Percy shouted.

We screamed as the bubbles slammed into the ceiling and...Darkness.

I thought I was dead until I felt the racing sensation in the pit of my stomach. We were going up, straight through solid rock as easily as an air bubble in water. For a few seconds, I couldn't see anything outside of the bubble, then my pearl soared up through the water. And -_ker-balm!_

__We exploded on the surface, in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board.

Percy grabbed Grover and I and drug us to a life buoy. Somehow I just knew what day it was. June 21, the summer solstice. I looked into the distance. Los Angeles was on fire, plumes of smoke rising from neighborhoods all over the city. There had been an earthquake, all right, and it was Hades's fault. He was probably sending up an army after us right now.

* * *

_Thank you all so much for your patience! I've been super busy with my schoolwork and sorority. You all are awesome. Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows!_

_-xox Kirstie_


End file.
